Indians have the most environmentally sustainable behaviour worldwide, as found by a survey conducted across 17 nations and 17,000 consumers by a National Geographic-GlobeScan research team.

The study has found that environment-friendly behaviour among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries has increased over the past year and India has made major contribution among the 17 nations. “The top-scoring consumers of 2010 are in the developing economies of India, Brazil, China, in descending order. American consumers’ behavior still ranks as the least sustainable of all countries surveyed since the inception of the survey three years ago”

The living habits also give Indians a green edge. “Indians are frequent users of public transport, consume locally grown food, conserve fresh water, and avoid packaged goods.”

The report titled “Greendex 2010: Consumer Choice and the Environment - A Worldwide Tracking Survey” is considered as a comprehensive measure of consumer behaviour in 65 areas relating to housing, transportation, food and consumer goods.

The first survey was conducted in 2008.

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