Teenagers are nagging parents to save energy

Survey finds more than half of children have told their parents to turn the lights off to save energy

Teenagers are using pester power to force their parents to use less energy at home and be more eco-friendly, according to a new survey.

The survey by renewable energy company Pure Planet found more than half (51 per cent) of children have told their parents to turn the lights off to save energy, and around a third (35 per cent) have urged them to walk to cycle to cut their carbon emissions.

And 40 per cent of 16 and 17 year olds have asked their parents to turn the heating down in order to save energy.

The survey also found children believe that brothers are the family member who wastes the most energy in the house (22 per cent), followed by sisters (16 per cent), dads (15 per cent) and mums (13 per cent).

“It used to be parents who would nag their children to turn the heating down or switch the lights out, but now it is the next generation of ‘greenagers’ forcing us all to be more aware of our carbon footprint,” said Pure Planet co-founder, Steven Day.

“This is the generation growing up with irrefutable evidence that climate change exists and the knowledge that it can be solved if we all take a small step in the same direction and use renewable energy in the home,” added Day.

“It’s encouraging that young people recognise climate change is one of the most important issues and the good news is, clean energy is now cheaper than polluting energy, so there is no excuse not to switch to a renewable supplier.”