Being environmentally conscious is a hot topic today with most individuals reporting some serious social pressure to reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible. This means trying to be conscious of your daily habits and conserve energy whenever possible.

Many people would consider their home to be an oasis of sorts. It’s a place to do whatever you want without judgement. For this reason, we thought it might be interesting to learn about the household habits of people across the US. We wanted to see what happens behind closed doors. Are American citizens reducing their energy usage, or do they throw caution to the wind and continue on with their traditional behaviors? We conducted a survey to find out their household habits and our findings are below.

The first thing we thought we should uncover was whether or not individuals even believed that there was a problem in our world that should cause them to conserve energy in the first place. It turns out that people aged 18-24 are the most likely to believe in human-impacted climate change.

We discovered that people who don’t believe that climate change is caused by humans are the least likely to intentionally conserve energy.

Residents of some states are more willing to make an effort to conserve energy over the coming year. Oregon, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Utah, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Wisconsin were the states with the residents who were most willing to change their habits. Arizona was the least likely state to make a conscious effort to change their household habits for the environment.

What does the gender breakdown look like? Of those survey respondents that stated they would not make a conscious effort to be green this year, men were the larger share of the pie, with males twice as likely as females to say they wouldn’t make an effort.

When it comes to household chores, how often are Americans engaging in these necessary activities?

While dishwashers (especially older ones) require a large amount of energy to heat water and sanitize dishes, the majority of Americans report using their dishwasher multiple times a week.

Compared to getting the dishes clean, the majority of survey respondents report doing laundry just once per week.

And what about vacuuming? While the majority reported that vacuuming takes place about once per week, 10% of respondents admitted they NEVER vaccuum their home. Hopefully, they are using a swiffer or a mop — you’ve got to keep those floors clean somehow!

Interestingly, despite the fact that older Americans tend to live in larger homes than millennials, many of their household habits are similar. A much larger home doesn’t significantly impact the frequency of chores.

While most of these household chores are necessary to keep a home clean and organized, over-use of these home appliances can be detrimental to the environment. The younger generation clearly has a stronger belief in the impact of our daily habits on climate change, so perhaps as this subset of the population ages and forms their own families and households, they will make green decisions that help cut back on overall energy consumption.

What can you do? Opt for energy-efficient appliances when possible and make it standard practice to check-in with yourself and see if there are any small ways you can reduce energy usage in your home.