Eco Guilt Crisis In MT: How Often Do You Have It?

Did you know the average American is hit with "Eco Guilt" once a week?

Today is Earth Day, and according to a new report, the average American experiences a thing called "eco guilt" at least once a week.  What is Eco guilt? It's the feeling that you could be doing more to help the environment.

Here in Montana, I think most of us are pretty good at picking up trash around town when we see it. Or even picking it up when we are in the beautiful mountains. If you go to a camp site and the people before you left a mess, we clean it up. We live in such a beautiful state, and we like to keep it that way!

 When is the last time you felt GUILTY?

Online shopping guilt?  Saying "no" guilt?  Netflix "cheating" guilt? With today being Earth Day, according to a new report, the average American experiences 48 days of "eco guilt" every year.  If you break that down, we are feeling "eco guilt" four times a month or almost once a week.

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* 31% of people say they feel guilty about wasting food.

* 29% feel guilty about trashing items that could've been recycled.

* 27% feel guilty about leaving the TV on when they're not watching it.

50% of people say they're more likely to do something that ISN'T environmentally friendly when they are feeling rushed or stressed.  Things like not recycling, avoiding single-use plastics, and bringing reusable bags we have in our cars but never use.

According to Talker Research 73% of Americans say they wish they were more environmentally friendly than they are today while 33% are actively looking for ways to reduce their "eco guilt."

Fun Fact: Millennials and Gen Z'ers were more likely to feel eco guilt than older folks. Many say that might be because they grew up with more information on climate change and environmental issues.