Forty-seven percent of Millennials and Generation Z’ers would not date someone who doesn’t recycle, according to a new survey from Decluttr.
Decluttr, an online marketplace for selling unwanted CDs, DVDs, games, books and tech items, found that in a sample of 1,332 people, 47% of young Americans would not want to be in a romantic relationship with someone who doesn’t recycle. Another 45 percent would not date someone who used an excessive amount of single-use plastic.
The study showed the environment is a major concern for the vast majority of young Americans with 67 percent of the survey’s respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 believe global warming is a “real, man-made and a serious threat.” Almost three-quarters (71%) ranked it more important than the economy.
Millennials and Gen-Zers are taking extraordinary measures daily in an effort to save the earth. The survey indicated that they regularly recycle (90%), compost (43%) and shop zero plastic (27%).
However, Decluttr found many of these young Americans are contributors to electronic waste, yet 63% contribute to it. 60 percent of the respondents did not know what the term “e-waste” meant at the time of the survey and 57 percent weren’t aware of the toxic impact e-waste can have on the environment if gadgets are not disposed of or recycled properly. According to Scientific American it’s estimated that 130 million smartphones are disposed of annually, which are usually burned in incinerators, releasing harmful metals into the atmosphere such as lead, mercury and arsenic.
Other items that are reportedly hitting landfills in 2020 are charging cords and cables at 49% and headphones at 42%, according to Decluttr.
Mobile phones (29%), speakers (22%), Blu-ray discs and DVDs (22%), CDs (22%), video games (21%) and other gaming items (19%), tablets (19%) and wearables (18%) rounded out the rest of the list.