Nearly 65 percent of U.S. consumers are willing to pay 5 percent more ($8.30 on average) for $100 products made with renewable resources, according to a new study by MarketTools.
The survey, which polled 1,001 U.S. homeowners, also shows thirty-two percent of respondents consider purchasing more expensive renewably sourced products to help deter global warming, while 33 percent do so to help farmers.
Renewably sourced products include carpets, textiles, personal care products and others made with renewable, farm-grown sources rather than petroleum.
"The survey confirms that people are becoming much savvier, with a growing understanding that being environmentally responsible is more than just recycling or buying products made with recycled materials," says DuPont Applied BioSciences - Biomaterials VP and GM Peter C. Hemken.
"Consumers, suppliers and product manufacturers, all stakeholders in the value and supply chains, need to take a closer look and understand the entire life cycle of products — what the products are made with, the inputs and outputs of the production process, and where the product goes at the end of its useful life — essentially the life cycle analysis," Hemken adds.
"This concept of 'starting at the source' is similar to reading food labels at the supermarket. The final product is what you want to buy, but its ingredients help inform the decision.
"This is the same decision consumers can now make when considering purchasing products that contain renewably sourced ingredients."
The survey also found that 28 percent of the U.S. believes it's extremely important to be environmentally responsible.
The Pacific and East South Central regions of the U.S. topped the list at 39 and 38 percent, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum were the Mountain (25 percent), Middle Atlantic (24 percent), and tied at 21 percent were West South Central and East North Central regions.