Vivint Solar's 'Guilt Report' Finds That 70% Of Americans Feel Guilty About Wasting Energy

LEHI, Utah, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivint Solar VSLR—Vivint Solar released a report today that highlights the state of eco guilt throughout the country. Eco guilt is the feeling people get when they know that they could and should adjust their habits to be more green. According to the report, 70% of Americans who participated, reported feeling guilty about wasting energy.

The company surveyed a group of 2,500 participants of varying age and gender throughout the United States. The report included questions about climate change headlines causing stress, whether or not participants felt guilty about not recycling, guilt about water usage, and whether participants felt more guilty about wasting energy due to environmental impact or cost.

Report highlights include:

Americans Feel Guilty About Wasting Energy—70% of survey respondents reported feeling guilty about wasting energy in their homes. Surprisingly, feelings of guilt decreased with age. Only 55% of respondents in the oldest group of people (55+) felt guilty about wasting energy in their homes, whereas 77% of respondents in the youngest group (18–24) felt guilt around wasting energy.

Younger Americans Feel More Eco Guilt—Overall, there was a trend in which younger survey respondents felt more eco guilt than the group of people in the older age categories. 75% of respondents from the age range of 18–34 reported that they felt guilty about not recycling; that number dropped to 66% in the 55 and older age range. Not recycling, however, was the reason that respondents 55 and older felt the most guilty as opposed to wasting energy or water in their homes. Wasting energy was the reason that both age groups 18–34 and 35–54 felt the most eco guilt.

Almost 50% of Americans Change Their Green Habits When Someone is Watching—One of the questions asked in Vivint Solar's "Guilt Report" was centered around the idea of being influenced by others. It reads: "Do we feel guilty because we personally know we should be making better, greener choices or do we feel guilty because we are being influenced by those we know?" 49% of survey respondents said that they changed their habits to be more "green" when others were around.

Climate Change News Is Stressing Americans Out—The majority of survey respondents (54%) reported feeling stressed when they saw headlines about climate change. This number goes up to 65% when asked of respondents 18–34; the percentage of women (57%) were also more affected by these types of headlines.

View the full report here.

"Our 'Guilt Report' provides some interesting insight into who is feeling eco guilt and why they're feeling that way. There were some surprising results, but the biggest takeaway seems to be that the majority of people are feeling stressed and guilty about their carbon footprint and their impact on the environment," stated Miranda Barnard, VP of Marketing at Vivint Solar. "Typically, we associate feeling guilty as something bad, but this doesn't have to be the case here, especially if these feelings inspire us to do more to invest in green habits, like recycling, not wasting energy, and even investing in solar energy. These changes can make a difference."

About Vivint Solar
Vivint Solar is a leading full-service residential solar provider in the United States. With the help of Vivint Solar, homeowners can power their homes with clean, renewable energy, typically achieving significant financial savings over time. Vivint Solar designs and installs solar energy systems for homeowners and offers monitoring and maintenance services. In addition to being able to purchase a solar energy system outright, homeowners may benefit from Vivint Solar's affordable, flexible financing options, including power purchase agreements, or lease agreements, where available. Vivint Solar also offers solar plus storage systems with LG Chem home batteries and electric vehicle chargers with ChargePoint Home. For more information, visit www.vivintsolar.com or follow @VivintSolar on Twitter. 

Media Contact:
Heather Hurst
385-202-6577
pr@vivintsolar.com
www.vivintsolar.com

SOURCE Vivint Solar, Inc.