Two polls released Wednesday indicated that Canadians might not be as "green" as they think they are.

Separate surveys done for Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and Cascades Tissue Group, a division of Cascades Inc. both said that nearly 70 per cent of Canadians would rather save money than buy environmentally sensitive products if those goods were more expensive than brand name goods.

Cascades, a large paper producer, said that 29 per cent of the 3,753 Canadian adults surveyed said they would buy green products even if they cost more than alternatives. The remaining 71 per cent were not willing to pay more for these products.

Wal-Mart, which polled 500 Canadians, said two-thirds of its group would rather save money than rescue the environment and 75 per cent of respondents listed expense as the main reason for maintaining traditional buying habits.

"Customers shouldn't have to choose between a green product and a product they can afford," said Jim Thompson, Wal-mart's senior vice-president of merchandise and operations, as the world's biggest retailer announced price cuts for environmental products.

Right now, environmentally friendly products tend to be more expensive than traditional goods because of higher development costs, smaller manufacturing runs and less overall demand.

For instance, one Canadian retailer was advertising a one-litre bottle of eco-friendly laundry detergent at $6.99 and a four-and-a-half litre container of brand-name clothes washing liquid for $7.99.

Money matters

Both polls found Canadians were receptive to trying green products.

In the Cascades survey, 44 per cent of people said they were changing their purchasing behaviour to help the planet.

Indeed, Wal-Mart's study noted an even higher percentage — nine out of 10 respondents — were willing to buy less polluting products if they cost the same or less.

The latter figure, however, plunged to 31 per cent if the green goods actually cost more.

The Cascades poll was conducted online between April 1 and April 7. The survey is considered accurate within 1.6 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Wal-Mart's poll was also conducted online, between March 20 and March 22. The error margin for this study was plus or minus four percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.