According to a study by the Environmental Transport Association, women tend to be more environmentally friendly than men. These findings reflect both the increased likelihood of women being concerned with the pollution caused by their driving as well as their willingness to explore alternatives to driving.
As Eco Street reports, “16 per cent of men who drive are ‘not worried too much’ by the fact their cars pollute, while only 6 per cent of British women hold this attitude.”
Yannick Read, spokesperson for the ETA said, “Women find it easier to reduce their reliance on cars possibly because they are more open minded about the alternatives to driving – they appear generally more optimistic than men about the changes they can make to the environment.”
When it comes down to it, women are the greener drivers precisely because they’re likely to drive less. Right in line with the point we often try to drive home: the greenest car is the one you don’t drive. Similarly, the greenest driver is the one that uses alternative transportation.
The Environmental Transport Association is a greener version of AAA – a British version of the Better World Auto Club (referenced in a Carectomy article here). The ETA claims to be “the world’s only carbon neutral motoring organisation (that) aims to raise awareness of the impact of excessive car use.”
Perhaps the UK newspaper the Telegraph would be pleased to learn that women are more likely to find other means of transport. According to the spin they and others put onto a recent psychology study done at Queen Mary, University of London, “Women and gay men are ‘worst drivers’” based on their slower reactions to spatial information. Of course there are enough studies that contradict this and paint young men as the dangerous, testosterone-ridden drivers to cause insurance agencies to jack up their rates. In our opinion, all drivers are “bad” – let’s give women props for driving less.
Photo via flickr by hellochris & Christopher Chan.
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