Would you date someone who didn’t feel strongly about climate change? For the eco-conscious singleton, the question has never been more pressing.
In 2024, the world’s largest study on climate change revealed that 69 per cent of people said the climate crisis is impacting their big decisions, from where they choose to work and live to what they buy – and, presumably, who they shack up with.
Sustainable daters say their partner’s views on the environment are among their biggest considerations when looking for a potential match. Eco-friendly speed dating events like Love and Climate, in New York, are helping to match up green-minded couples. Dating site OkCupid has even introduced a feature that allows its users to filter out climate deniers.
With the climate crisis weighing on our collective consciousness more than ever, it’s hard to imagine dating someone whose perspective on the environment differs dramatically from your own.
Jill Crosby, who launched the eco-friendly dating site Green Singles in 1999, says “it is possible – but it depends on the level of openness and respect both people bring to the table.”
It’s okay to differ on some topics as long as there’s integrity, openness, and alignment in the bigger picture
Jill Crosby, Green Singles
The founder has been in relationships where her partner didn’t share her sense of urgency surrounding the climate crisis. “What I learned is that values show up in behaviour more than beliefs.”
One previous partner “wasn’t very vocal” about climate issues, says Crosby, “but they composted, reused everything, and lived very sustainably.”
Another “talked a lot about environmental issues but didn’t walk the talk”.
What Crosby learned from these experiences, she says, is “that actions matter most – and that it’s okay to differ on some topics as long as there’s integrity, openness, and alignment in the bigger picture”.
It can be harder to navigate these differences if you’re not a certified climate dating guru. Sophie, 26, has stuck with veganism her whole life for environmental reasons – which is more than the nurse from Wigan can say about her romantic partners.
Sophie’s ex-boyfriend was a meat-eater, which led to disagreements between the couple.
It’s not just because of the meat that it didn’t work out, but it definitely didn’t help the situation
Sophie, lifelong vegan
Her current partner is “mostly vegan” and “definitely understands why I’m vegan, which is more important to me than him being vegan himself”.
On the other hand, Ishbel, a vegan for whom climate change has been “hugely important in all aspects of my life” for as long as she can remember, is in a long-term relationship with a meat-eater.
The couple manage their dietary differences through compromise and understanding. “My partner isn’t vegan,” the 25-year-old bartender explains, “but he eats pretty much entirely vegan with me.”
The issue, she says, is less straightforward when it comes to dating someone whose views differ significantly from hers: “I probably wouldn’t date someone who works in the oil industry because I want a partner who has the same ideas as me – generally in a relationship, you want someone that matches your perspective and understands you.”
And what of the omnivore’s perspective? Ishbel’s handyman partner, Anson, says he loves the challenge of cooking vegan.
“I have to think of different ways to cook things and use different things but still maintain flavour. I really enjoyed that at the start as a challenge, but now it comes second nature.”
“Cooking a cabbage compared to cooking a steak, same difference. It’s all in the seasoning.”
