Cutting single-use plastic in shops emerges as top public priority
Hubbub study urges businesses and governments to help households adopt sustainable living by providing clearer information and financial support across a range of everyday habits.
Confidence, clarity, and cost - the three Cs - should be the top priorities for businesses and governments aiming to promote household sustainability, according to a new report from environmental charity, Hubbub.
The ‘Home Advantage’ report is based on an in-depth study of 175 UK homeowners over three months, along with a survey of 501 additional homeowners, exploring the support needed to help people adopt more sustainable habits.
The research covers a broad range of everyday actions, including home energy use, heating, food waste, sustainable diets, and the consumption of clothing, homeware, and electronics.
It found that most participants became more willing to make changes at home when they had increased awareness, knowledge, and saw other participants act. During the study, 65 per cent became more willing to cut energy use by 15 per cent, and almost half showed increased willingness to reduce meat and dairy intake.
Clear information was a key factor in driving these choices, with over a third (35 per cent) of homeowners identifying a lack of knowledge as the biggest barrier to making home upgrades.
However, cost was the most significant concern, with 65 per cent of households citing affordability as the biggest obstacle to adopting sustainable practices. The report highlights the need for financial support, clear evidence of value for money, and a strong return on investment to encourage action.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Gavin Ellis, Director and Co-Founder at Hubbub, said: “Householders have told us they want to understand where to start, what will make the biggest difference, how much it will cost, what the wider benefits will be and how others will also play their part.
“Applying the overarching principles from this report alone could help the UK to make huge strides towards the third of emissions reduction required by 2035 that relies on the decisions of households.”
The study was supported and funded by a cohort of businesses, including B&Q, Barratt Redrow PLC, Starbucks UK, Unilever UK, and Virgin Media O2.
How businesses and government can support sustainable living
From these insights, Hubbub created a set of recommendations for businesses and government:
- Introduce policies to reduce plastic packaging, enabling households to buy more loose produce while expanding the availability of unpackaged fruit and vegetables
- Drive demand and public confidence through communication and behavior-change campaigns that provide impartial, actionable advice
- Implement legislation to support a circular fashion economy and tackle e-waste by encouraging more repair and reuse
- Build trust in clean heat and home energy upgrades by improving consumer education and support
- Improve the end-to-end experience for home energy improvements
- Address skills gaps and trust issues in the supply chain by expanding accreditation schemes and increasing apprenticeships, with support for SMEs that hire apprentices
- Promote a more positive approach to reducing meat consumption by providing greater variety and alternative options
- Provide dedicated funding for community initiatives such as repair cafés, "Library of Things" programs, and local sharing hubs
Ellis added: “We believe this challenge requires a radical rethink of how these issues are presented to the public to stimulate a step change in demand for sustainable choices, in a way that builds confidence, improves clarity and provides financial incentives and reassurance.”
Policies to improve household sustainability
The below table indicates how the participating households responded to a variety of food waste, clothing, homeware, and electronic policies.
| Policy suggestion | Overall sentiment from participants | Popularity (per cent that supported) |
|---|---|---|
| Reducing the amount of unnecessary single-use plastic packaging in shops | Positive | 91 |
| Increasing the availability of options to buy loose fruit and veg | Positive | 86 |
| Clearer labelling on clothing on how to wash, repair and care for them | Positive | 76 |
| Clearer labelling on how to repair homeware items and help them last longer | Positive | 76 |
| Support Repair Cafes | Positive | 75 |
| Right to Repair - improve consumer rights to be able to repair items | Positive | 71 |
| Community sharing hubs to rent everyday items instead of buying them | Positive | 70 |
| Extended Producer Responsibility for electronics | Positive | 63 |
| Labelling food with their environmental impact - including how much carbon it took to grow, package and transport the item | Neutral | 52 |
| Removing best before dates on food | Neutral | 51 |
| Accessible and affordable renting models for clothing | Neutral | 42 |
| Adding a small tax for any fast fashion clothing purchases | Divisive | 35 |
| Adding a tax to products that contain meat to cover the associated environmental costs | Negative | 21 |
Table 1: Views on sustainability policies
Discussing what businesses can take from the results of the study, Joanna Gluzman, Director of Sustainability & Quality at B&Q, said: “There’s a clear need for certainty and consistency in giving homeowners a roadmap of home efficiency measures, along with simplicity in communication to build trust and drive action, and financial incentives to overcome cost barriers, such as those for home energy improvements.”
Sarah Pratt, Acting Group Sustainability Director at Barratt Redrow, added: “As we transition to building new homes that are heated by electricity, this report strongly makes the case for industry and government to communicate the benefits of a sustainable lifestyle more clearly and to encourage choices that are good for the consumer’s pocket as well as the planet.”
