- Saving the planet neednít cost the earth
- 35% of grads would reject non-green employers
While to many of us the thought of a ëgreen studentí might conjure up images of lone crusader, ëNeil The Hippyí types, new research amongst Britainís latest batch of graduates has uncovered that going green has never been more popular amongst our student fraternities.
The research by Fujitsu Siemens Computers shows that in a bid to help conserve the earthís natural resources, 69 per cent of graduates choose to walk or cycle over short journeys, 67 per cent recycle waste at home and more than one in four (26 per cent) buys organic produce.
Seventy-seven per cent of graduates also support Fujitsu Siemens Computersí Big Turn Off campaign by preferring to pull the plug on electrical equipment - such as televisions and PCs - after use, rather than leaving them on standby.
A worthy 35 per cent of the job-seeking graduates went as far as to say that they would reject a job offer from a company whose green ethics didnít meet their own high standards.
And as these ëgreen graduatesí make the transition from student life to full-paid employment, with the average graduate salary starting at around **21,997, we might expect to see some of their hard-earned cash spent on greener goods. Indeed, almost a half (48%) of graduates said that they try to buy with an environmental conscience. And 38 per cent have gone green with energy-saving devices such as wind-up radios and low voltage light bulbs.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers now hopes that more students and graduates will take the same green approach when making large technology purchases, such as PCs. At present only 10 per cent of them say that they do - which the company believes is due to budget-conscious students assuming that greener alternatives carry a price premium. But nowadays this is no longer the case, with prices for Fujitsu Siemens Computersí green PCs starting from around 450-00 and its ground breaking Amilo Pro V2030 green laptop starting from 400-00.
Garry Owen at Fujitsu Siemens Computers, commented: ìItís great to see that Neil the Hippyís stereotype is dead and that today a large proportion of our students are ready to take on the green agenda together. Hopefully we can start to get the message across to students that green computing is also an affordable option that doesnít leave you out of pocket, or short on performance. Letís face it - saving the planet shouldnít have to cost the earth.î
The Green, Green Grads of Home
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