{"id":19844,"date":"2026-03-05T09:06:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?p=19844"},"modified":"2026-03-15T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:54:21","slug":"do-our-spending-habits-match-our-sustainability-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/2026\/03\/do-our-spending-habits-match-our-sustainability-values\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Our Spending Habits Match Our Sustainability Values?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iStock-2180682562-cafe-counter-no-plastic-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-19850 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iStock-2180682562-cafe-counter-no-plastic-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In conversations about plastic reduction and sustainability, it is clear that people care about the environment and reducing waste.\u00a0 People say they want less plastic, more reusable options, and businesses that take environmental responsibility seriously. But does that translate into real-world spending habits?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To better understand if there is a gap between values and behavior, we\u2019re launching a short survey focused on how sustainability influences purchasing decisions. Do shoppers actively choose businesses that reduce single-use plastics? Are they willing to pay more for products with sustainable packaging? Do efforts like onsite recycling containers and refill stations actually affect where people spend their money?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you live or shop in Needham, please share your thoughts by completing this <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLScQO6hg7sRnvK-znEi35lKH9RtPCU08ooxiuuWiX1R8LDY1wA\/viewform?usp=dialog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">brief survey <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0by <strong>March 20th<\/strong>. If you know of a business that goes above and beyond with sustainable measures, be sure to mention them in the survey.\u00a0 We will give them a \u201cSustainability Shoutout\u201d on our website and social media!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green Needham will randomly select two survey respondents who will each win a $25 gift card to Volante Farms. One lucky winner will receive a $50 gift card and the book<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cThe Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It&#8217;s Too Late\u201d by Judith Enck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By gathering real data about spending habits and community priorities, we can help our local businesses better align with our shared environmental goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><br style=\"font-weight: 400;\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SURVEY DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MARCH 20th!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":19850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-19844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plastic-waste-reduction","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19844"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19895,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19844\/revisions\/19895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}