NOTES CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Millennials and ecology: a new “greatest generation”?

- millennials: a person reaching adulthood in the start/beginning of the 21th century.

- ex: someone born in 1981, being then 19 in 2000.

- ecology: a part of science working on the relationship of living organisms and their
environment

- ex: connection between plants and animals and their natural habitat.

- Even though Generation Z and millennials are the 2 generations the most oriented
towards sustainability, it is still the latter that has the biggest concern for the ecology

- 75 % of millennials are eco conscious enough to care of the eco quality rather than the
price. (source : www.wickedbionic.com)

- the younger generations have behaviour that are in uenced by their eco impact and are
leaning towards a more sustainable lifestyle

- students are starting to be even more attracted to o ers having a low pay, but with a
higher SDG-minded companies

- SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

- A study on a sample of around 650 university students in Japan proved that the
probability of choosing the least SDG-mind oriented company even having a high
salary against the probability of choosing a high SDG-mind oriented (with lowest pay)
was increasing of 56%

- (source: sciencedaily.com)

- Even though younger generations might be more attracted to high pays, it shows that
with the knowledge of if the companies are SDG oriented or not might change their
behavior

- for example, to avoid plastic pollution, millennial are 30% to use reusable water bottle
against 18% for elders. ( bfmtv.com )

- not less than 8 young people among 10 are claiming being stressed about the planet’s
future

- they are more than ready to change their lifestyle, with the environment becoming a
major important subject for them

-
- Millenials have less problems to reduce their consumption contrary to Gen z, a
generation which has grew in a more individualist society with liberal consumption

- 56% of the 18-34 years old have shared that the pandemic has made them more eco-
conscious

- “Green is the new sexy” even as we see the big part it has in the millennial life; they
tend to be more attracted to people having the same ecology minded thoughts/
behavior

- young optimist, but knowing that it is important the elder generations have to change
their habits

- they think also that environmental considerations should have a bigger place in the
society and should be prioritised by the government

- the societal utility is for them a huge criteria to chose their job even though there is an
economic crisis

-
fl
ff
- It can be seen on pinterest, app/website used by most millennials, that people are
leaning toward a more écolo lifestyle, with them pinning tips for the environment,
growing their own plants, reusing things like clothes (DIYs)

- top ten researches on pinterest for eco-conscious minds:

- 1. live in a eco-minded way

- 2. sustainable architecture

- 3. sustainable fashion

- (source: newsroom.pinterest.com )