Italians have always had an ‘affectionate’ or emotional relationship with their home (living in the same house for a lifetime and rarely moving from the neighbourhood). With the pandemic, this relationship has become even more intense, thanks to the increase in activities that used to be carried out mainly outside the home, whether professional or otherwise (from smart working to working out); all the more so as these practices have often been maintained even after the lockdown has ended.
The home dimension is therefore, more than ever, to be ascribed to the list of elements that contribute to our ‘well-being’.
Indeed, the 2022 edition of the Eumetra Green Home Smart Home Observatory found that well over half of the households surveyed devote time and resources to improving or beautifying their homes.
Investments in energy efficiency actually concern only a portion of households, which in some cases adopt them synergistically (thermal insulation works, installation of a photovoltaic system, installation of a heat pump for heating); however, even the replacement of an old boiler with a recent one is an important step forward, and brick by brick, progress is being made towards greater efficiency.
Moreover, the first way to save energy is not to waste it. The recent phenomena of ‘expensive energy’ and ‘expensive bills’ have in fact given a new impetus to the adoption of green behaviour, a sort of ‘gentle push’ that has succeeded in obtaining concrete results, where no manifestation of ideal adhesion to the cause of sustainability had previously succeeded in having such an effect.
Generally speaking in our country, there are minority segments, around 25 per cent, that adopt decidedly green behaviours; 40 per cent that are in an intermediate position – that is, they do something about it such as, for example, separate waste collection or are careful to keep the heating not too high – while the remaining third do little or nothing.
For the first time in seven years, in 2022, our Observatory recorded some significant changes in people’s behaviour in relation to household consumption, in the direction of greater energy saving: fewer washing machine or dishwasher cycles per week, attention to setting the heating thermostat to a minimum, the simple expedient of turning off the lights once you leave a room.
Higher energy bills have encouraged virtuous behaviour and greater awareness of energy consumption, more so than appeals (and adhesions) to respect the environment!
And this is important, since the effects of climate change are now tangible…
“Well-being Pills is an optimism stimulator. It is used in the treatment of widespread negativity and contemporary anxieties. It contains opinions, peculiarities, confidence-inducing quirks, all rigorously extracted from Eumetra’s proprietary surveys. No contraindications or side effects are reported. The recommended dose is 1 pill per week. It is preferable to take the product on a full stomach, to combine its effects with those of a good lunch.
