Name: Green flags.
Age: This is a thing for younger people, so listen up, boomers.
And I’m guessing we’re not talking about Green Flag, the roadside assistance people, one-time sponsors of the England football team? Correct, we’re not.
But green flags as opposed to red ones? Again, correct. With regard to dating.
So, I’m thinking: being mean to animals would be a red one, whereas being good-looking is most definitely a green flag? It’s true, the phrase has been used to mean generally encouraging signs in a potential partner (though more behaviourally than anatomically). But here we’re talking about green as in …
Gorton and Denton? No! Well, maybe, kind of. Green as in environmentally conscious.
Got it. In a survey …
Thought there would be one of them. … of 1,000 people, commissioned by Faustino Wines …
Weird! So, 80% of gen Zs said that shared environmental values were as important as physical compatibility in a partner.
Who cares if you’re good-looking if you don’t recycle? Essentially, yes. Car-sharing, wearing patchwork clothes (signifying mending rather than throwing away) and carrying reusable coffee cups all came up as signs of environmentally virtuous behaviour.
What about millennials? Well, 70% also said eco-consciousness was a green flag. And 40% of 25- to 40-year-olds said they’d turn down a date (first or second) with someone who was not environmentally conscious.
I may need more evidence than one survey. Data from Bumble has suggested that, with more and more people worrying about the future of the planet, the way we’re dating is changing. “Green dating” ideas include a walk in the park.
Well, that doesn’t sound difficult … got a quote from an expert? I have. The dating and relationships coach Jacob Lucas is quoted in the Times as saying: “Healthy relationships are all about being compatible in morals and ethics, and the small everyday choices people make carry a lot of weight.”
For example? “If someone litters, it shows they don’t share the same values as someone who wants to support the environment.”
OK, I’m convinced. Now, excuse me while I go break up with Taylor Swift. Tay Tay bye bye, unless she loses her PJs. Eh? Well, a) I don’t think you’re dating Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce is. And, b) this is about the environment, not sleeping naked …
PJ means private jet – keep up! Ooh yes, a bigger red flag than littering, even if you’ve got just the one.
Do say: “The plastic straw was the last straw …”
Don’t say: “Nice Porsche, let’s go!”
