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Gen Z and Millennials Think Their Personal Actions Shouldn’t Be Blamed for Climate Change

According to Gen Z and Millennials, there’s a big difference between their eco-unfriendly choices and a brand’s…

Written and Edited by the YPulse Editorial Team

Oct 20 2022
North America

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Gen Z and Millennials believe their generations can stop climate change, but that doesn’t mean all their actions are perfectly aligned with their values
They believe that brands are more responsible for fast fashion waste than they are as consumers
Though they consider some actions “criminal” there are ways for brands or wealthy individuals to “make up” for their actions

Gen Z and Millennials are strong in their values; YPulse data has long shown they care about a huge range of causes, and the environment has been amongst the top of their list for some time. They also believe their generations are the ones who can and will enact change. In the case of climate change especially, the majority of young people (68%) agree “My personal behavior has the potential to help stop climate change.” So it’s no wonder that it puzzles older generations that young people continue to shop fast fashion, even as 64% of those shoppers agree fast fashion is bad for the environment. How do they justify their eco-unfriendly purchases when they claim to care so much about eco-causes? Their behavior starts to make more sense when we look at how they feel their individual actions are impacting the world in comparison to larger entities. In our most recent trend report, The Cause Conundrum, we asked 13-39-year-olds about different actions, taken by themselves and those with...