National Geographic's Greendex 2008

The National Geographic Society partnered with GlobeScan to survey consumers in 14 countries to develop the Greendex, an analysis of consumers’ purchasing habits when it comes to housing, transportation, food, and consumer goods.

"The Greendex gives us an unprecedented, meaningful look at how consumers across the globe are behaving," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice president of mission programs.

North Americans came out looking pretty bad. Both Canada and The U.S. were the bottom of the sustainable consumption scale.  Brazilians and Indians were on the top.  The researchers recognize that there is greater wealth in North America, and many of the top-ranked countries would consume more if they could.  However, a separate study showed that the top-ranked countries generally displayed a greater concern for environmental issues.  

Eric Whan of GlobeScan commented; “Regardless of why consumers behave in an environmentally friendly way, because of their climate, income, or more conscious decisions, the fact is that on average consumers in developing countries have less environmental impact than the average consumers in industrialized countries, and in this sense it doesn't really matter why they do."

Find the Original Report and Read More At National Geographic