-
Knowledgeable but slow to
change? An investigation into the relationship
between environmental knowledge and
behavioral change
Abstract
Fifty-
two
respondents
were
surveyed
about
their
knowledge
and
the
extent
of
their
implementation
of
three
Rs
(Reduce,
Reuse,
Recycle).
Results
indicate
that
environmental advice
should be re-directed towards providing practical
ideas that can
be cheaply and
conveniently implemented by the public. Further,
if efforts are made
to
reduce
the
cost
and
increase
the
convenience
of
environmentally
sustainable
behaviour, this will lead to greater
adoption of such behaviour by the public.
Introduction
Environmental
awareness
has
been
increasing
over
the
last
few
decades,
due
to
campaigns
by
environmental
NGOs
and
the
governments
as
well
as
education
to
encourage people to
modify their behaviour along more sustainable
lines. At the same
time, some (but by
no means all) businesses have supported this trend
by developing
and
promoting
‘
green
’
or
‘
environmentally
friendly
’
products.
However,
the
trend
towards
increasing
consumption
has
continued,
resulting
in
increased
use
of
packaging
and
energy.
For
example,
large
cars,
especially
four-wheel
drives,
with
significantly increased
fuel consumption, are becoming more popular. It is
useful then
to know how effective the
educational campaigns have been, not only in
increasing
the
public
’
s
knowledge
but
also
in
modifying
their
behaviour
towards
greater
sustainability,
and
also
to
find
out
how
campaigns
can
increase
their
effectiveness
further.
Aims
The
purpose
of
this
research
was
first
to
investigate
how
much
knowledge
a
representative
sample
of
people
actually
have
about
environmentally
sustainable
behaviour and
secondly, to find out the extent to which this
knowledge has led to a
positive
change
in
behaviour.
A
final
aim
was
to
look
at
the
factors
that
are
most
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effective
at
encouraging
people
to
make
their
behaviour
more
sustainable,
so
that
future
campaigns can be targeted effectively.
Method
The sample
The
sample
size
was
52.
These
respondents
were
selected
from
a
variety
of
age,
gender and soci-economic background.
They were all residents of urban areas.
Data collection
This was carried out through the use of
a questionnaire. Initially, the questions were
trialled with a sample of 10 people. A
new improved questionnaire was then devised.
This comprised 10 questions and focused
on some of the most common behaviours. It
attempted
to
elicit
frequencies
of
particular
behaviours
such
as
re-using
items
even
when
buying
new
ones
was
more
convenient,
and
choosing
to
buy
goods
with
less
packaging than their
competitors.
Discussion
Findings regarding knowledge
Knowledge
of
what
the
three
Rs
represent
was
reassuringly
high.
Forty-five
of
the
respondents (87%) could say what the
three Rs were. However, only a much smaller
proportion (23%, or 12 respondents)
could say accurately that reduction of waste and
consumption was the most important of
the three. As for more practical knowledge,
all
participants
knew
how
to
recycle,
but
only
two-thirds
of
the
respondents
(35
respondents) were able to give, without
prompting, ways in which they could reduce
their
consumption.
The
weakest
area
of
knowledge
was
in
techniques
for
reusing,
with only 16
respondents (31%) able to
come up with
unprompted ideas. However,
when
given
suggestions
such
as
taking
used
supermarket
bags
to
the
supermarket
instead
of
being
given
more
new
ones,
or
buying
reusable
instead
of
disposable
products, a high 90% said the idea was
familiar.
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