By Rachael Lloyd at eharmony
Relationships on Female First
If 2019 is remembered for anything beyond the usual Brexit dramas, let’s hope it’s the year that green issues were put firmly on the map.
Even the most hardened sceptics must have paused for thought with mass protests dominating the capital last spring; a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl rounding on the politicians about carbon reduction, and a searing documentary on climate change by green messiah Sir David Attenborough.
Heartening then to learn a third of British singles now see being environmentally-aware as a crucial trait. Indeed, according to our data, it’s become more important than someone having good dress sense (14%), earning lots of money (9%) or being seen as ‘cool’ (6%).
More Brits are now also making a conscious effort to reduce harm to the planet, adopting green practices when dating. This means heading to veggie restaurants (14%), choosing outdoor locations for dates (13%), avoiding big chains (9%) and skipping using a car or train in favour of a bike (4%).
Furthermore, these green singles cross generations and class systems. The figures show that around on in five of plus-55s feel the same way.People who care passionately about the future of the planet are likely to score high on traits such as conscientiousness, altruism, agreeableness and open-mindedness.
One might argue they also possess higher levels of intellect – at the very least let’s hope they are able to see beyond the political rhetoric which assures us we are doing super-well in tackling climate change.
For those who remain in the dark, step forward schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. Last April, the intrepid pony-tailed Swede travelled by train to London to disavow us of any notion that Britain was on track to meet green targets. She attacked the government’s ‘very creative carbon accounting’ which has historically failed to account for the environmental damage caused by imports, and the ‘recycling’ we ship to South East Asia to be dumped in landfills. She rounded on the UK for its Heathrow Airport expansion and keen flirtation with fracking. As it happens, her visit coincided with that of actress Emma Thompson, 60, who took to a garish float, courtesy of Extinction Rebellion, to lecture the world about climate change.
Sadly, the Hollywood star’s visit was less successful than that of modest schoolgirl, when it was revealed Ms Thompson had in fact jetted into the UK (first class, naturally), thereby using a mode of transport which dumps huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the sky. It’s unlikely the actress won any fans for this contextual lack of judgement, particularly as the UK’s singles particularly dislike litter bugs.
Over three-quarters (76%) agree dropping litter is a turn off, and close to half (42%) would think about dumping someone who dropped rubbish on a date. Somewhat surprisingly, singles aged 35-54 were most likely to say this, outweighing their millennial counterparts (46% vs. 43%).
To conclude – being green is no longer the province of nerds and hippies. No peeps, it is now cool to be kind and woke regarding the planet. It could even win you valuable desirability points. So, go on, take those old clothes to the charity shop, stop printing off your emails, watch the water consumption; maybe even cut out meat and dairy. Snowflake or not, you’ll be entirely on trend and a big winner when it comes to finding love.
tagged in dating eco-friendly