This paper focuses on household consumption across the island of Ireland and explores people’s attitudes and reported behaviours towards the environment and sustainable consumption. It looks specifically at three key areas of everyday consumption: water, transport, and energy. The paper shows that although many people express high levels of environmental concern, this does not always translate into sustainable behaviour. It highlights the gap between what people say they believe and what they actually do in daily life, and argues that behaviour is shaped by more than individual attitudes. Factors such as infrastructure, public services, cost, social norms, household circumstances, and policy context all influence people’s ability to consume more sustainably.
Methods
The study used data from the CONSENSUS Lifestyle Survey, which was developed to collect baseline information on household consumption attitudes and behaviours across the island of Ireland.
The researchers collected data from 1,500 domestic households across three case study locations: Galway, Derry/Londonderry, and Dublin. Each location included 500 households.
The survey focused on three key consumption areas with high environmental impact: water, transport, and energy. It explored people’s environmental concern, awareness, self-efficacy, responsibility, and reported everyday behaviours.
The study used a multi stage cluster sampling method. 30 electoral districts were selected across the three counties, with ten electoral districts chosen from each county. Data were collected through administered surveys using tablet computers and analysed using frequency tables and cross-tabulations.
Main Findings
Most respondents showed strong environmental concern, with 86% saying they were concerned about environmental issues and 82% believing their personal behaviour could make a difference.
However, the paper found a clear value action gap. People often expressed positive environmental attitudes, but this did not always lead to sustainable behaviour in daily life.
Water saving awareness was high, with 80% agreeing that water should be saved. However, 40% said they did not pay attention to how much water they used at home.
Transport was a major challenge, as the study showed high car dependency. 71% of commuters usually drove to work, school, or college, while only 24% walked, cycled, or used public transport.
Energy attitudes were positive, with 91% willing to buy more energy-efficient appliances. However, 53% had not reduced their household energy use in the past month for environmental reasons.
The main conclusion is that sustainable behaviour is shaped by more than personal attitudes. Practical issues such as cost, public transport access, infrastructure, household situation, and social norms strongly affect whether people can act sustainably.
