Edinburgh: The greenest place to live in Scotland

Published on Friday 15 May 2009 22:05

THERE is limited green space, high levels of pollution and constant traffic. But now a major report has said residents of Edinburgh city centre care more about the environment than do people from anywhere else in Scotland.

Research has revealed nearly six out of ten people living in the EH2 postcode – around George Street and Princes Street – regard the environment as important.

In contrast, Kirknewton, in West Lothian, came bottom of the list, with more than a quarter of residents not caring at all about green issues. It is the first such wide-scale study of green behaviour and attitudes. It was carried out by market information analyst CACI, which combined its own data with the results of a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs national survey into public attitudes and the environment to draw up the rankings based on postcodes.

Those with the most eco-friendly lifestyles, who recycled or bought locally grown food, were classed as "enthusiastic greens" in the survey. And those who dismissed energy saving or green issues were "environmentally unconcerned".

In Scotland overall, an average of 18.5 per cent of residents were enthusiastic greens, which was slightly higher than England's average of 18 per cent.

However, England's greenest districts had far higher percentages of residents with eco-friendly attitudes than the top areas in Scotland.

Jonathan Burston, the director of CACI, said: "Seen as the home of the metropolitan elite, we might predict that Edinburgh's more affluent areas boast residents with the greenest tendencies, as they have more money to put behind sustainable lifestyles – particularly in a recession.

"However, although the capital's residents make up half of Scotland's top ten, its outer suburbs are also home to some of the least environmentally concerned. This classification shows exactly how diverse our attitudes can be – with Scotland's green heroes and villains found all across the country, falling far behind England's finest but also not as bad as England's worst."

He added that a large proportion of those classed as "unconcerned" were young men.

"They have little or no concern for the environment," he said. "They are very disengaged."

The majority of the "enthusiastic greens" were "more up-market, better-educated and with families", he added.

Dr Richard Dixon, the director of environment group WWF Scotland, said it was "good news" that people in Scotland were, on average, more concerned about the environment than were people in England.

"People in Scotland are clearly taking things seriously," he said.

He suggested that some of the differences in behaviour were probably due to the opportunities available to people.

"Some of these things are based on what your council provides," he said.

"You can't do much recycling if there are no facilities."