Andrew W. Gilg

A conceptual framework for understanding and analysing attitudes towards household-waste management.

The disposal of household waste has become a major problem for all industrialised countries. Public policy has focused on changing household attitudes by information campaigns. However, the link between environmental attitudes and actions is a very complex one. The authors develop a conceptual framework with three predictors: environmental values, situational variables, and psychological variables. This framework can be used to formulate both questionnaire design and data analysis. The paper demonstrates its utility with a report on recent research that has used the framework to provide important new findings about different attitudes and actions to waste minimisation, waste reuse, and waste recycling. These findings have clear implications for public policy as well as lending considerable empirical support to the original conceptualisation offered by the

Attitudes towards Recycling Household Waste in Exeter, Devon: Quantitative and qualitative approaches

Recycling of household waste has become a very problematic area of British local government policy-making in which central government has set ambitious targets. Although local government can provide facilities for recycling, the attitudes of residents will be crucial if these targets are to be met. Accordingly, this paper outlines a framework for studying how households decide to recycle or not. The framework has been tested in Exeter in south-west England where a major survey found that respondents were much more likely to recycle if they had access to a structured kerbside recycling scheme. Many other factors influenced their attitudes and behaviours towards recycling, including their acceptance of the activity and their perception of the benefits and problems of recycling as a whole. The research uses the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey to demonstrate how individual attitudes can impact on recycling and how such research can yield useful data to enable policy-makers to adapt measures accordingly.

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND ANALYZING ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR

Abstract Encouraging environmental action by citizens in developed nations has become a major priority for governments who are seeking to reach environmental targets by exhorting individuals to participate in a range of behaviours to ameliorate the negative impact of their lifestyles. Such activities conventionally include energy saving, water conservation, waste management and forms of ‘green’ consumption. Current policy discourses are focused around a linear model of behaviour, which assumes that an awareness of environmental problems and knowledge of how to tackle them will lead to individual ameliorative actions. This paper explores these assumptions by applying a previously developed conceptual framework (Barr et al. 2001) to a range of environmental actions, to show how a variety of different factors influence environmental action. Using data from a major (UK) Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project in Devon, United Kingdom, data on environmental actions collected during the project are interrogated to uncover the relationships between environmental actions and how these are influenced by values, personal situations and attitudes. The research demonstrates that environmental action is structured around peoples everyday lifestyles (rather than a compartmentalized notion of behaviour) and that these have radically different antecedents.

A Novel Conceptual Framework for Examining Environmental Behavior in Large Organizations A Case Study of the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom

This article is concerned with the development of a conceptual framework of the key antecedents that lead to sustainable environmental behavior amongst employees within a large organizational setting. A range of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed in the study to examine behavior. Using the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom as a case study, the research demonstrated that both organizational and individual/cognitive factors served as key predictors for sustainable waste behavior. However, these factors did not work in isolation but rather, within a dynamic, holistic, intrarelated, and interrelated conceptual framework to ultimately determine individual behavior. The results suggest the need to address both categories of variables when developing policies to achieve greater sustainability in the behavior of employees within large organizations.

Mapping local foods: evidence from two English regions

Purpose – This paper sets out to engage with current debate over local foods and the emergence of what has been called an alternative food economy and to examine the distribution of local food activity in the South West and West Midlands regions of England.Design/methodology/approach – Databases on local food activity were constructed for each region from secondary sources. The data were mapped by means of choropleth mapping at postcode district level.Findings – Although local food activity is flourishing in the South West and, to a lesser extent, the West Midlands, it is unevenly distributed. Concentrations occur in both regions. These may relate to a variety of factors, including: proximity to urban centres and particular trunk roads, landscape designations and the geography of farming types. The products that tend to predominate – horticulture, dairy, meat and poultry – can either be sold directly to consumers with little or no processing, or remain readily identifiable and defining ingredients after b...

Traditional farming and agro-environment policy in Southwest England: Back to the future?

Abstract This paper examines the findings of research undertaken in the Southwest of England during 1992–1993, the aim of which was to explore the socio-economic and geographical circumstances of farms participating in agro-environment schemes. The research found that ‘traditional’ farming was crucial to the schemes, in terms of scheme objectives and the profile of participants. As such, ‘traditional’ farming systems could be said to represent an ideal type of environment-friendly farming system, and one that, in the Southwest at least, current agro-environment schemes in some way help to support. The paper concludes that traditional farming systems should form a much larger and more focused part of agro-environment policy.

Traditional low intensity farming: Evidence of the role of vente directe in supporting such farms in Northwest France, and some implications for conservation policy

Abstract This paper examines the findings of research which examined the profile of farms in the French vente directe sector, i.e. farms that valorise their produce with direct processing and sales. In particular, evidence was sought concerning the degree to which vente directe might have a conservation role through helping to valorise traditional low intensity farm produce. The evidence suggests that vente directe can help to support small, low intensity farms in landscapes of high conservation value. However, as often as not, such farms are more unorthodox than traditional—both socio-economically and in terms of farm enterprises. When, occasionally, more conventional farms enter the vente directe sector, they are as likely to exhibit modern, intensive characteristics as they are to follow low intensity farming systems.

A Tale of Two Locational Settings: Is There a Link Between Pro-Environmental Behaviour at Work and at Home?

Abstract This paper examines the nature of the relationship between sustainable waste management behaviour between the ‘home’ and ‘work’ settings. A questionnaire survey of 566 employees of the Cornwall NHS (National Health Service) was used to examine the nature of the behaviour between the two settings and to understand the main factors influencing the behaviour. The results indicate that there is strong link in the behaviour of individuals between the two settings, with employees who practised recycling activities at home also being more likely to practise a similar behaviour at work. There was also some similarity in the level of sustainability of the behaviour between the two settings. These behaviours were strongly influenced by the underlying attitudes and beliefs of the staff towards the environment. The implications for policy-making to improve sustainable waste management behaviour amongst individuals in England and Wales are also discussed.

Encouraging ‘Environmental Action’ by Exhortation: Evidence from a Study in Devon

National and local campaigns to encourage ‘Environmental Action’ use a range of media to increase the levels of activities such as recycling, energy saving and water conservation. These are conventionally focused on the population as a whole. The research reported in this paper suggests that such an approach, based on a belief that general campaigns are effective, might not be very effective and could be modified to take account of how different groups of people behave. In addition, the focus of campaigns on sectoral activities like water and energy saving might also be inappropriate given our findings, which are based on a survey of 1265 households in Devon. This found that three major types of behaviour characterise ‘Environmental Action’: purchasing, habitual activities and recycling behaviour. In addition, demographically and attitudinally defined clusters of individuals point to very different types of behaviour across the population. These findings suggest that more focused campaigns and a re-evaluation of how ‘Environmental Action’ is segmented would greatly assist policy makers in developing effective strategies for enhancing ‘Environmental Action’.

Strategies for improving recycling behaviour within the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS) in the UK

This paper examines strategies for improving recycling behaviour within the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS). Using quantitative (questionnaires and waste bin analyses) and qualitative (ethnography and interviews) methodologies, the study examined the waste management practices of staff from the Cornwall NHS. It was found that employee participation in waste recycling at work was low due to a range of factors including NHS focus and policies, group norms, and individual attitudes and beliefs about sustainable waste management. Recommendations for improving the sustainability of NHS, employee waste management practices, with a specific focus on recycling are included in the paper. These recommendations include measures focused towards both the NHS organization and individual staff members.