Factors affecting household-level environmental decision making

Yi, Y., S. Hartloff, and P. Meyer. 1999. “Factors affecting household-level environmental decision making: A three-country comparison of the determinants of household recycling.” Urban Ecosystems 3 (2) (July): 149.

This study examines data from the 1993 International Social Survey Program: Environment and usingfor nineteen countries including the study’ s author’s three target countries– Italy, The Netherlands and Great Britain. The purpose is to examine the similarities and the differences between the three countries.

There were four measurements applied to the three countries; Perceived environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, recycling attitudes, and recycling behavior.

The results were rather surprising given the common participation of the countries involved. These differences were the mean age, the environmental attitude between the Italians and the Dutch and the recycling behavior between the British and the Italians. These kinds of differences suggest that although there might be a political and economic construct such as the European Union and a consistent intent to recyle, there is still a clear difference between certain factors from country to country. This highlights possible problems in designing and replicating recycling programs.

Other findings suggest that data collected across jurisdictions may distort factors affecting household recycling decisions. It also suggests that perceived costs and benefits are influenced by factors that are not evident at the household level. Those factors might include settlement patterns and attitudes about public land including the costs of using them for waste disposal.

In general, the result is that recycling programs don’t necessarily work from one country to the next unless they are adjusted according to the contexts in which they are implemented.