Photo courtesy CNW Group/World Vision Canada
A recent poll indicates a strong Canadian preference towards giving and receiving environmentally friendly gifts. Solar power from the World Vision Gift Catalog is an example of an environmentally friendly gift.
A Harris/Decima poll released this month reveals that, when it comes to charitable gift-giving, Canadians are greener gift givers than Americans. Although results from the annual survey show that the gap is closing, Canadian adults are still 5 percent more likely than their U.S. counterparts to prefer giving (73 percent Canada versus 68 percent U.S.) and receiving (74 percent Canada versus 69 percent U.S.) gifts that benefit the environment.
The same poll conducted in 2010 indicated that Canadians were 10 percent more likely to prefer giving environmental gifts and 9 percent more likely to prefer receiving environmental gifts than Americans.
Conducted annually on behalf of World Vision, the charitable gift-giving study explores how Canadians define an environmentally friendly gift:
- 80 percent of Canadian adults agree that an environmentally friendly gift consists of recycled or recyclable materials (versus 70 percent in the U.S.)
- 72 percent of Canadian adults view a gift that enables the recipient to reduce their environmental impact to be environmentally-friendly (versus 62 percent in the U.S.)
- 70 percent in Canada say that locally made or locally grown makes a gift environmentally-friendly (versus 63 percent in the U.S.)
Gifts from the World Vision Gift Catalog provide tangible donations on behalf of the gift recipient. Many options allow children and families to lift themselves out of poverty while reducing their environmental impact. Items such as fruit trees and livestock are purchased from local markets and locally sourced when possible.
“This year, I’m giving my parents the solar power gift in the World Vision Gift Catalog, which I know they’ll be really excited to receive,” says Zaya Kuyena, a green gift-giver from Etobicoke, Ont. “Through this gift, solar power will be donated to a family overseas in my parents’ names. They are supporting the environment and helping change a family’s life.”
For full study results, visit www.worldvision.ca/gcnewsroom.
