Kitchen remodelers: A glass half empty or half green?

The Research Institute for Cooking & Kitchen Intelligence (RICKI) surveys 600 homeowners who remodeled their kitchens in the past 12 months. For the 2008 survey (they run it every two years), the organization asked this interesting question:

Q: Which of the following statements best describes your decisions about your kitchen remodeling purchases?

• I only purchased products I felt did not have a negative impact on the environment. -- 10%
• I strongly considered environmental impact on my purchases. -- 36%
• Other considerations were more pressing this time than the environmental impact of my purchases. -- 54%

RICKI spun the results this way: "Environmental Impact of Products Not Top Priority for Most Kitchen Remodelers." I had to laugh. If you told me that 46 percent of homeowners refused to buy products that harm the environment, or felt strongly about the eco-impact of their purchases, I'd consider that an amazingly high percent! That's a huge market of people to sell, and if you, the retailer or vendor, can make 46 percent of customers give you a second glance because of your green or energy efficient products, then that's a real leg up on the competition.

I wish RICKI had asked that two years ago; seeing how those numbers change over time would be pretty interesting. Anyway, for more info, there's a bit more online, on this page detailing all RICKI's research projects, and in this brief excerpt (PDF) of the actual research report.