Essay On Recycling Attitude

2.5.6 General Recycling Attitude

Recycling is extremely important for the environment; in the UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of C02 a year, furthermore the 1,500 landfill sites based in the UK in 2001 produced a quarter of the methane emissions from the UK (Recycle now, 2014). Recycling is therefore an important aspect to sustainable disposal, due to kerbside collections, recycling has become convenient for the consumer; all recyclable objects can be classed as waste and recycled accordingly. Shim (1995) and Joung (2013) have investigated the links between a general recycling attitude and a consumer’s environmental concerns and product disposal behaviours.

Joung (2013) studied two groups, classified as materialistic and non-materialistic consumers, and found no difference between participation in recycling between the two groups even though the materialistic consumers had higher scores for disposing and lower scores for environmental attitudes than non-materialistic consumers (Joung 2013). It could be suggested that a consumer’s general recycling behaviour is a poor indicator of their environmental attitude and other disposal behaviours; Shim (1995) suggests that consumers can “develop a habit of recycling without much sensitivity toward environmentalism” (Shim 1995). Here general recycling behaviours are a result of the convenience of recycling for the consumer rather than a representation of their environmental concerns.

Hoskins (2013) describes the effect of recycling without environmental concern; “ultimately, recycling tackles the symptom not the cause — and gives consumers a false sense of security that the rate at which they are consuming and disposing of clothing is at all sustainable.” (Ho...

... middle of paper ...

...d concern for the environment.” (Koch and Domina 1999). They state that the people associated with having concerns for the environment are “white, young, well educated, and politically liberal” (Koch and Domina 1999), which could suggest that studies focused on young consumers at university will not provide results that are reflective of the nation’s concerns and attitudes.

Joung and Park-Poaps (2013) concentrated their research on university students in America; their study of 232 people was based overwhelmingly on young, Caucasian (87.5%), females (91.8%). (Joung and Park-Poaps 2013). Their demographic characteristics could suggest a similarity in upbringing and background, which could in turn mean they have learned similar consumer behaviours as studies have shown young children learn their attitudes and behaviours from their peers and family members (Ward 1974).