Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming

The report identifies a significant discrepancy between the importance Americans place on environmentally friendly actions and their frequency of practice, while noting that barriers to these behaviors must be addressed through policy.

• There is a substantial gap between the percentage of Americans who believe certain conservation actions are important and those who actually perform them frequently. Specifically, while 88% value home recycling, only 51% do so 'often' or 'always'; 81% value reusable shopping bags, but only 33% use them 'often' or 'always'; 76% value buying locally grown food, but only 26% do so 'often' or 'always'; 76% value walking or biking over driving, but only 15% do so 'often' or 'always'; and 72% value public transportation or carpooling, but only 10% do so 'often' or 'always'.
• Consumer behavior is influenced by corporate climate actions, with approximately one-third of Americans rewarding companies that reduce global warming by purchasing their products, and a slightly smaller proportion punishing companies that oppose such steps by boycotting them.
• Direct political engagement regarding global warming is low, with 12% of Americans contacting government officials in the past year; among those who did, 72% urged officials to take action to reduce global warming.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2010). Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-americans-actions-speak-louder-than-words-on-climate-energy/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming. 2010. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-americans-actions-speak-louder-than-words-on-climate-energy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming |date=17 February 2010 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-americans-actions-speak-louder-than-words-on-climate-energy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2010americans, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Americans’ Actions to Conserve Energy, Reduce Waste, and Limit Global Warming}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2010}, month = feb, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/do-americans-actions-speak-louder-than-words-on-climate-energy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }