Last checked at 
* Emissions from full product lifecycle under scrutiny
* Consumer responsible for much of carbon emissions
* Firms say take shorter showers, wash clothes less
* Sustainable consumer behaviours fall in many countries
* Progress on cold water detergents, LED lighting
By Emma Thomasson and Barbara Lewis
BERLIN/PARIS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Eat misshapen veg, washclothes in cold water, drive more slowly and recycle? It isperhaps no surprise that companies say persuading consumers togo green is a big challenge.
As negotiators seek a deal to reduce global emissions at theU.N. talks in Paris, companies are under increasing pressure toaccount for all their carbon emissions, from manufacturing allthe way through to packaging and a product's disposal.
Businesses have been lining up to announce they will powertheir factories by renewable energy or source raw materials fromsustainably managed forests and farms, but many say it is up toconsumers too to change the way they use their products.
Years after detergents were developed to wash clothes incold water, many people still turn up the dial. Electric carsales have been as sluggish as their perceived performance onthe road, and tonnes of food and clothing still choke landfills.
Unilever, maker of Dove soap, estimates thatcustomers are responsible for 70 percent of the greenhouse gasemissions associated with its products, compared to just 21percent for the raw materials used to make them. The consumergoods giant has been promoting shorter showers - admittedly withlimited success.
"It is far easier to get a consumer to switch their purchasebehaviour from a less sustainable product to a more sustainableproduct than it is to influence how people use the products,"said Sally Uren, head of Forum for the Future, a non-profit thatworks with business and government on sustainability issues.
Swedish-based fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz saysthe way clothes are cared for at home accounts for more than aquarter of the emissions during a garment's life. All H&Mclothes now carry labels that recommend washing at lowertemperatures.
Irit Tamir, senior advocacy adviser at campaign group Oxfam,however, says companies can't shift too much of the onus ontoconsumers. Businesses should focus on reducing their ownemissions and those of their suppliers, while government shoulddo more to encourage behaviours like recycling, she says.
"We need consumers to be engaged as well, but if we put toomuch of a focus on the consumer we are letting companies off thehook in terms of their own responsibility," she said.
ENTRENCHED HABITS
Chip Bergh, chief executive of Levi Strauss,tries to lead by example. He says he hardly ever washes hisjeans, noting that consumers are responsible for 50 percent ofthe water used in the lifecycle of the average pair.
"I know that sounds totally disgusting but believe me, itcan be done. You can spot clean it, you can air dry it. It'sfine. I have yet to get a skin disease," he joked last year.
But Anna Walker, Levi Strauss's senior director of globalpolicy, said few people are following Bergh's example:"Consumer behaviour is the toughest thing to change."
More people now expect global warming will negatively affectthem during their lifetime, a global survey by the NationalGeographic Society and GlobeScan found. However, sustainablebehaviour in areas from housing to transport, food and consumergoods actually fell in Canada, China, Germany, Japan and theUnited States between 2012 and 2014, the same survey showed.
"Consumers need more encouragement from peers as well asenablement and better leadership from companies and governmentsto lighten their own impact," said GlobeScan's Eric Whan.
Younger consumers, particularly the 18-30 year-olds dubbedthe millennials, are seen as more malleable, but also morelikely to expect big brands to do the heavy lifting for them.
Whan noted that products like smartphones that becomeobsolete in a relatively short time was leading to moredisposability.
Unilever, which has set itself the goal of halving theenvironmental footprint in the making and use of its products by2020, tweaks formulations and promotes product innovations likedry shampoo. But it admits that greenhouse gas impact perconsumer use has risen by around 4 percent since 2010, partlybecause it has struggled to change bathing and shower habits.
British retailer Marks & Spencer had to cut a targetto get its customers to recycle millions of items of clothingafter disappointing take-up for its initiative to collectgarments for recycling.
MAKING IT EASY
Procter & Gamble, behind brands like Tide and Ariel,sees some progress in encouraging the use of cold waterdetergent as it focuses its marketing on saving energy ratherthan saving the environment.
It estimates that 53 percent of global machine loads werewashed in cold water last year, up from 36 percent in 2010/11,but still far from the P&G target of 70 percent by 2020.
IKEA, the world's biggest furniture retailer, hasmanaged to get its customers to switch from incandescent bulbsto energy-efficient LEDs by slashing prices.
"We went super slim on margin to create the scale," saidSteve Howard, head of sustainability at IKEA. "It's about makingthings really convenient. We will not be able to push thingsthat make it harder for people."
Companies are also realising the need to bundle theirresources to change entrenched consumer habits.
Detergent makers and fashion retailers have worked togetherto promote washing clothes at lower temperatures, while topretailers and food companies have jointly pledged to help halveper capita food waste at the consumer level by 2030.
The commitment was made by members of the Consumer GoodsForum (CGF), a network of 400 retailers and manufacturers, whichsaid if food waste were a country, its carbon footprint would bethird after China and the United States.
British retailer Tesco, a CGF member, said it willend multi-buy offers on larger packs of bagged salad afteradmitting that 68 percent goes to waste, and will insteadintroduce twin-pack 'eat me now, eat me later' offers.
Ignacio Gavilan, the forum's sustainability director, saidfood retailers and producers had made major progress inimproving their own operations, which account for about a thirdof food wasted, and are now trying to influence consumers, whichaccount for another third.
"It's about making sure they make the right choices, butit's easier said than done," he said.
(For recent Reuters stories on climate change, click on ) (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Susan Fenton)
