It’s a funny thing; ask just about anyone what they think the most likely biggest barrier to living more green might be, and they’ll probably tell you it’s cost. I would love, for example, to buy nothing but organic foods for my family… but at this point in our lives, it’s simply too expensive for me to do so. (I do, however, try to stay organic on the Dirty Dozen foods.) Similarly, I tend to think of vacation time being less green than “regular” life, for most folks, because once you’ve paid for a hotel room or whatever, it’s not like you’re paying for every drop of water or degree of thermostat-bump on the air conditioning. And we’ve already discussed my camping garbage guilt.

So imagine my surprise to come across this article on waste consciousness that claims “road warriors are turning into eco-warriors.”

Check it out:

The faltering economy – not the fragile environment – is the biggest motivator for frequent travelers who have become “more conscious of waste” according to a survey commissioned by Element Hotels, which is launching The Element Eco-Travel Index, an annual index of green travel habits among frequent travelers. [...]

According to The Element Eco-Travel Index, nearly 78 percent of respondents said they are paying more attention to wasteful habits like “leaving the lights on, leaving the TV on, [or] leaving the faucet running.” But more than 41 percent say their vigilance about squandering resources is “due to the economy, while just 28 percent claim it’s “due to the environment.”

It’s a little ironic, I suppose, that the economy is more of a motivation to be green than, you know, preserving our earth. But the end result is still a huge positive—people being more mindful. I’ll take it!