Connecting Religion & Sustainability

Are people who identify themselves as religious more likely to choose sustainable products and services? With more than seventy percent of the earth's population adhering to one of the world's seven main religions--and spending on sustainable consumption projected to grow $60 billion by 2014--this question is timely, to say the least. PhD candidate Elizabeth Stickel (shown above with PhD program director Andrew Verner) presented her investigation of this topic in a poster session during the UO's third annual Graduate Student Research Forum. Stickel's finding's suggest that although both religious and nonreligious consumers have a desire to be sustainable, they may do so for different reasons. In addition, while few significant differences exist among religious affiliations, more highly religious consumers seem to be less materialistic. Download the poster to find out more.