How Sustainable are Canadian Households?

Statistics Canada’s newly released Households and the Environment Survey provides a window into how the sustainable practices and behaviours of Canadians are changing. For example, government analysts found that increasing numbers of Canadian households are taking action to reduce their energy and water usage and that, more than ever before, a sense of environmental responsibility is driving these changes. Here are a few of the survey’s highlights.

Energy through the roof

Approximately 15 percent of our annual household income is spent on home energy use  (excluding fuel for motor vehicles), according to the survey. That’s equivalent to $15 of every $100 earned, a figure that underlines how important it is to implement energy-efficiency measures at home. (Get started with these tips from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.)

Organic at the table

While 5 percent of Canadians said they always purchase organic food and 45 percent reported purchasing it often or sometimes, however fewer than half of households polled rarely or never buy organic. Interestingly, more than half of households in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador reported rarely or never purchased organic food products. More research is needed to understand what’s behind these regional differences. StatsCan also reported that both the market share and the number of producers of organic food have been on the rise in Canada, but here, too, there were surprising regional differences.

All wet

Surprisingly, 30 percent of Canadian households were drinking predominantly bottled water, regardless of whether they had a municipal or private water supply. Ontarians are drinking the most bottled water, at 34 percent of households, while households in British Columbia are drinking the least (24 percent).

StatsCan also found that 54 percent of households with a municipal water supply treat their water in some way prior to drinking. When asked why, 54 percent reported doing so to improve its taste, appearance or odour; 51 percent to remove water treatment chemicals (such as chlorine); 43 percent because of the perception of a threat of bacterial contamination, and 40 percent to remove metals and minerals.

Statistics Canada’s Households and the Environment Survey is a biennial report. The last one was released in November 2006.