The holidays are a great time to think about how to make a positive difference, and consumers are doing just that. A YouGov survey released by Neutral Foods reveals that U.S. adults are planning to be kinder to the planet this holiday season. Their efforts will include: recycling more (40%), opting for reusable/no gift wrapping (23%), limiting travel or opting for carbon offset travel (17%), and starting or continuing to compost (14%). One in two U.S. adults (50%) say protecting the planet matters to them, and they buy products from companies that take steps to reduce impact or harm to the environment.
In addition to recycling more, 40% of Americans are thinking about doing their part for the planet this holiday season in the kitchen.
During the holidays, U.S. adults plan to:
Cook more with seasonal ingredients (24%)
Cook less to ensure less food waste (19%)
Switch to climate-smart ingredients (10%)
Take beverages: 30% of Americans who celebrate the holidays will increase drink more milk, and additional 28% say they will do add milk to tea, coffee or dishes. When Americans who celebrate the holidays and use milk were asked how likely they were to consider switching to a new brand of milk if it was better for the planet, tasted exactly the same, and was priced similarly to their current favorite brand of milk, 62% said they would definitely or probably consider the change.
If all U.S. households that celebrate Christmas left out a glass of carbon neutral milk with cookies for Santa, nearly 74,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions would be eliminated, Neutral Foods said. This is equivalent to:
Taking more than 16,000 cars off the road for one year, or
Providing electricity to more than 14,000 homes, or
Recycling over 25,000 tons of waste instead of it going into landfills.
“We know about energy-saving LED Christmas lights, cutting back on wrapping paper and even carbon-offsetting travel, but there’s an even easier way to be planet-friendly during the holidays and that’s with the milk we use for our favorite dishes,” said Marie Saba, cookbook author and Neutral Foods recipe contributor. “Making simple climate-friendly changes in the kitchen add up, even including the milk and cookies families will leave out for Santa.”
“While it’s encouraging to see consumers are thinking about how to reduce their environmental impact during the holidays, this poll also tells us that one-fourth of Americans don’t know what steps they will take,” said Marcus Lovell Smith, CEO, Neutral Foods. “Neutral organic milk is a climate-smart choice for those looking to improve their carbon footprints this holiday season and beyond.”
