With Earth Day just around the corner, many of us have been thinking about the environment, sustainability, and what it really means to care about the natural world in our day-to-day lives. For many, living an environmentally friendly lifestyle means making small, everyday decisions that are eco-friendly—things like choosing to recycle, shopping local, or using reusable bags. But do these decisions we make in our daily lives carry over into our love lives? When it comes to going on dates and picking a partner, how big a role does being environmentally friendly play?
To get a better idea of how important the environment is to today’s daters, the online dating site and app Zoosk did a survey of 5,100 of its members and analyzed 123,257 dating profiles. As it turns out, caring about the environment is extremely important to the majority of singles, and things like picking up litter, turning off the lights, or recycling may just be the key to helping you attract that special someone.
Here are a few insights into how going green can help you land a date:
78% of singles want to date someone who cares about the environment.
That’s right, the vast majority of online daters say dating someone who cares about the environment is important. And of that 78% who think it’s important, 33% say that it’s very important. Interestingly enough, women value the environment even more—85% of them say it’s important for them to be with someone who cares about our earth.
Caring about the environment makes you more attractive.
Not only is caring about the environment something most singles look for in a date, it’s also something that turns them on. 58% of singles say that caring about the environment is an attractive quality. And, once again, women really go for those who are green—65% of women find people who care about the environment attractive.
91% of all online daters consider themselves environmentally friendly.
And that’s daters from across the United States and of all ages. Some of the most environmentally-friendly singles came from Vermont, Alaska, and Kentucky.
States with the Most Environmentally-Friendly Singles
- Vermont
- Alaska
- Kentucky
- Connecticut
- Virginia
- Delaware
- Wisconsin
- Hawaii
- California
- Idaho
Littering is a major deal-breaker.
When it comes to environmental pet peeves, 81% of singles think littering is annoying, while 74% say it’s not just annoying, it’s a deal-breaker. Other big environmental (and romantic) no-nos include unnecessarily wasting food and leaving the lights on.
Eco-UNFRIENDLY Things That Drive Singles Nuts
Annoying Things | Actual Dealbreakers |
| Littering – 81% Unnecessarily wasting food – 54% Leaving the lights on – 54% Not recycling – 37% Driving places you can walk to – 20% Brushing teeth with tap on – 18% Driving a gas-guzzling car – 18% Taking really long showers – 15% Always drinking bottled water – 14% Eating meat at every meal – 10% | Littering – 74% Unnecessarily wasting food – 32% Leaving the lights on – 17% Not recycling – 17% Driving places you can walk to – 10% Driving a gas-guzzling car – 8.2% Eating meat at every meal – 7.6% Taking really long showers – 6.5% Always drinking bottled water – 6.2% Brushing teeth with tap on – 6% |
But picking up litter is a major turn on.
59% of online daters say picking up litter is sexy. Other attractive eco-friendly actions include recycling (52%), being energy efficient (51%), gardening (49%), and shopping at a local farmer’s market (46%).
Eco-Friendly Things That Singles Love
Most Attractive to Men | Most Attractive to Women |
| Picking up litter – 57% Being energy efficient at home – 50% Recycling – 50% Gardening – 47% Shopping at local farmers market – 41% Planting a tree – 38% Using reusable grocery bags – 28% Using reusable water bottles – 21% Wearing used items or clothing – 19% Composting – 16% Driving an electric car – 8.2% Being a vegetarian – 6.2% | Picking up litter – 64% Recycling – 58% Shopping at local farmers market – 58% Gardening – 54% Being energy efficient at home – 54% Planting a tree – 47% Using reusable grocery bags – 44% Using reusable water bottles – 31% Wearing used items or clothing – 23% Composting – 20% Driving an electric car – 7.9% Being a vegetarian – 7.6% |
Mentioning the environment in your dating profile can help you get attention.
People talk about a lot of things in their online dating profiles, but next time you’re looking at that little white box and wondering what to say, you may want to bring up your environmental habits. Mentioning that you reuse things, prefer organic, or value the environment, nature, and the earth can get you up to 82% more inbound messages.
Best Environmental Terms to Mention in Your Dating Profile
Word mentioned in profile | Increase in inbound messages |
Reuse | 82% |
Organic | 56% |
Environment | 41% |
Farmers market | 41% |
Nature | 34% |
Earth | 33% |
Tree | 32% |
Forest | 25% |
Outdoors | 21% |
Hippie | 20% |
Plant | 15% |
| Wildlife | 10% |
Going to the beach and picnicking are the best environmentally-friendly dates.
As far as green dates go, going to the beach (53.2%), picnicking (52.6%), stargazing (48.5%), visiting a local farmers market (48%), and hiking (47%) are the most popular options among online daters.
Men’s Favorites | Women’s Favorites |
| Going to the beach – 51% Picnicking – 50% Hiking – 48% Stargazing – 46% Visiting a farmers market – 43% Visiting a museum – 42% Biking – 34% Volunteering – 29% Planting a tree / gardening – 25% Thrift store shopping – 23% Organic wine tasting– 20% Trash clean up – 14% | Picnicking – 60% Visiting a farmers market – 58.4% Going to the beach – 58.3% Stargazing – 53% Visiting a museum – 47% Hiking – 45% Volunteering – 40% Organic wine tasting – 32% Planting a tree / gardening – 29% Thrift store shopping – 28% Biking – 24% Trash clean up – 12% |
