Younger generations aren’t a climate-conscious monolith
What actions are Zoomers and Millennials taking to curb their environmental impact?
Checking in
Deloitte’s Global 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, the latest annual report that dropped in May this year, revealed a lot about how the youngest generations of adults are doing, with insights into everything from how they feel about their socio-economic prospects (mostly better), to their view of GenAI (mostly uncertain).
However, one element of the report caught our eye. Deloitte asked over 14K zoomers (those born between 1995 and 2005, according to the survey) and more than 8K millennials (1983-1994) about what they’re actually doing to drive climate action. More than 1 in 4 millennials and Gen Zers reported following vegetarian or vegan diets, for example, while over a third of respondents from each cohort said they’re avoiding fast fashion.
However, what the survey implied was almost more important. If 35% of Gen Z respondents said they already actively avoid fast fashion, that’s interesting, but it also suggests that 65% of Gen Z aren’t yet onboard… which goes a long way in explaining why Shein and other low-cost, youth-focused fast fashion brands have exploded.
It’s often easier to think of generations as monoliths — that, of course, isn’t the reality. Gen Z are almost certainly the most sustainability conscious generation ever, and some members of that demographic are climate activists, but many are not. Shein wouldn’t be an $80B+ behemoth shifting $5 t-shirts if it wasn’t selling something millions of people wanted.
