Poll: Sometimes it isn't easy being green

WASHINGTON — Sometimes it's easier to think green than be green.

A survey released Tuesday suggests people have largely embraced recycling bottles and cans, and are inclined to turn down thermostats to save energy. But it also indicated that some paths toward a greener Earth aren't as easily taken — or turned into action.

The telephone poll, conducted for The Associated Press and NBC Universal, tries to gauge attitudes about the environment. It found that 60 percent of those surveyed felt either a "great deal" or "a lot" of personal responsibility to protect the environment, while 37 percent rarely, if ever, even thought about the impact of their actions on the Earth's health.

Nearly eight of 10 people, who were concerned about environmental protection, said they believe their actions are helping to protect the environment.

The survey found that nearly seven in 10 people believe recycling bottles and cans would help the environment a lot, more than six out of 10 said the same about buying energy-efficient appliances, using recycled paper products, car pooling and adding energy-saving insulation to their homes. A little more than half said it would make a lot of difference to turn down the thermostat, reuse water bottles and take your own reusable bag when grocery shopping.

While many of the respondents — a cross section of adults from across the country — said these actions would help the environment "a great deal," or at least "a lot," when asked about some specific actions, the gap widened between what they believe to be important and what they, themselves, have any intention of doing.

In some cases, the inability to turn their green priorities into action reflected geography or economics.

Take the matter of car pooling, or using mass transit. More than six in 10 people said they thought it would help the environment. Yet only three in 10 said they were very likely to do it, and four in 10 said they were not at all likely to car pool or take mass transit.

A third of those surveyed lived in rural areas where mass transit was generally not readily available, and where car pooling would be less likely. Yet, only 44 percent of urbanites and 32 percent of people living in the suburbs also said they were very likely to use mass transit or car pool.

Janice Meehl, 54, a fourth-grade teacher in the town of North East, Pa., and one of the participants in the survey, said she fervently recycles bottles and cans, keeps the thermostat down and years ago added insulation to her all-electric home, cutting her energy bill in half. It saves money but also "it's doing the right thing for the environment. They go hand in hand," she said in a follow-up interview.