Are we all talk and no action?

It seems that as much as we like to all say that we are doing our bit when it comes to combating climate change, we are only prepared to go so far. Once the lightbulbs have been changed we are free to go on our merry way and consume to our heart's content safe in the knowledge that we are doing our best to save the planet.

If that sounds a bit harsh then have a listen to social analyst, David Chalke, who I interviewed recently for a feature on the 'new' consumer outlook. Rather worryingly he told me that concern around the environment - such as key electoral issue - has now tumbled down our list of priorities. His latest data is showing that some, though hopefully not all of us, believe that everything is going to be okay because Kevin went to Bali. "Kevin's gone to Bali to fix it so I can now go back to worrying about other things like my weight," was how he summarised the feelings of some of the respondents to his AustralianSCAN survey. Is he alone or have we decided that we are 'over' the environment?