Gender Response to the Green Initiative - Research Paper Example

? Gender Response to the Green Initiative Philip Jong Research Design Walker of San Francisco For my research project, I intend to write about the environmental consciousness within the USF community. I will be observing whether students and faculty remain environmentally conservable within the cafeteria. The variables will the usage of compost bins, recycling bins, and landfill bins. The control variable will be the containers holding the cafeteria food i.e. Plastic bottles, to-go boxes, and utensils. The independent variables will be the students and faculty being observed, and the dependent variables will be the behavior of those observed. The purpose of my study is to determine whether students and faculty adhere to environmental principles the school attempts to represent. Due to the fact that USF is known as an ecologically friendly proponent of green, it seems fitting that I do an experiment to test the validity of this notion. My hypothesis is that I believe students will in fact follow the regulations supporting environmentally-friendly actions. An interesting research question might be: would banners promoting green be effective in instilling an environmentally conscious mind in the students. According to our research, women were found to be more responsible in disposing off their trash after eating as compared to men. The results were not shocking though, since it is a general perception of people these days for women. Since our respondents belonged to somewhat same age groups and socio-cultural backgrounds the results were straightforward however, this would not have been the same if the respondents were selected from different classes and ethnicities. Students Faculty Compost and/or Recycle Landfill Introduction As issues like global warming arise and the world engages in various human greedy tendencies, environmental, ethical, and economical concerns begin to surface. While some of these issues happen at a natural rate, we can diminish the effect that our actions contribute to such problems. The purpose of my study is to determine the recycling consciousness within the USF community. I will be observing both males and females and testing to see which sex remains more environmentally conservative in our school’s cafeteria. The purpose of my study is a valid and important one because environmental concern is a relevant issue that is growing with each day. The world is not changing for the better and it is up to us to abate our eroding effects. The school of USF and the city it is situated in is known for its attempt in becoming clean and green. Prior statistics point to a rise in environmental concern in Americans, especially within the youth. Included in my study will be observation and testing a sample population within the USF community to verify that there is a noticeable display of concern for the environment. I will be using articles and journals in the EbscoHost database to further analyze and substantiate notions pertaining to this study. I hypothesize that males and females will equally prove to be environmentally aware and responsible when disposing of their trash after having their meals. We can learn from this study as to whether or not there is in fact a gender difference in the USF community’s environmental consciousness. We can also learn whether or not there is consciousness towards recycling to begin with. My hope is that I discover a palpable correlation between USF students and green-responsible action. Method Participants The sample included 67 individuals, consisting of 28 men and 39 women, seen cleaning up after their meals in the cafeteria of a bay area university, from 12:37pm to 2:15pm. Most of the participants were students, from the ages of 18 to 25, although a few professors were also recorded, who were in the age range of 40 to 60. All kinds of ethnicities were recorded, and no irrefutably recognizable children (under the age of 18) were observed. Design A 2 by 2 naturalistic observation was implemented to test the relationship between sex (men or women) and environmentally conservative behavior (recycling or composting trash vs. disposing in landfill bins or depositing them in other ways. Gender was classified as male if masculine bodily characteristics were present in the participant (i.e. broad shoulders, narrow hips, flat chest, facial hair, etc.). Similarly, a participant was classified as female if feminine bodily characteristics were prominent (i.e. presence of breasts, expanded hips, lack of facial hair, etc.). Only individuals storing their food or drinks in containers, such as a bottle or to-go containers, were tallied. In this study, food stored on glass plates and other non-disposable tableware were excluded. Procedure A single male sitting inconspicuously on a raised chair in the corner of the cafeteria’s seating area and near the row of recycling, compost, and landfill bins served as the observer. The trash bins were color coded and labeled, with the recycling bins colored blue, compost bins colored green, and landfill bins colored black. For approximately an hour and a half, the observer noted on his laptop computer one tally mark in the appropriate category (male/female and recycling or compost/landfill or other) for each individual seen throwing away their meal remains and containers. Results A chi-square test of independence was performed to analyze the data. Inconsistent with the prediction, a statistically significant relationship was observed between gender and environmentally conscious habits, X2 (1, N = 67) = 6.313, p = .016. As illustrated in Figure 1, female students were twice as likely to be green than male students, and were significantly less likely to dispose their garbage in landfill or other bins. Important to note that the ratio of women versus men is almost double when it comes to recycling or compost whereas a higher number of male respondents were found to trash on landfill and other as compared to women. Men and women can have different attitudes when it comes to waste management, public health and cleanliness. Likewise, they have different preferences to determine the ways of addressing the issues of environmental problems and public health. These differences in men and women affect their expectations and the kind of services they anticipate to be present in their communities for these environmental problems. This is evident from our research results, where women have been found to be more aware and careful in terms of environmental issues. Waste management raises a lot of environmental, health and social concerns and queries which includes the roles of men and women in waste management to act responsibly for the environment, how the waste is managed at homed and industries, who is responsible for what kind of waste, what are the benefits that can be achieved by careful and effective waste management. In order to evaluate the level of awareness among men and women, about waste management a lot of surveys have been conducted and efforts have been made to increase these levels of awareness. Training initiatives should provide equal opportunities for both men and women in order to keep them on the same grounds when it comes to preserving nature and environment. It is believed that women have closer ties and affinity with nature, they are more committed to it and it is evident from the ways they use resources and act in their daily lives. Throwing trash in appropriate trash cans is one example of this responsible behavior. However, there is a need to encourage men of the society and young children to play their role for the betterment of our environment. There have been many environment saving movements by the United Nations and other organizations encouraging women workers ignoring the large section of men of the society. This approach not only emphasizes on the women’s role in daily lives as administrators of natural resources. According to (Redclift, 1997) women are the ones who are highly affected by any kind of environmental crisis, and should be considered to be most appropriate to handle environmental issues. Involving women in environmental programs is definitely a better approach for this section of the society. But, importance should also be given to other sections like men and youth of the societies to be more responsible for environmental issues. The behaviors of men versus women as depicted in figure 1 provide enough evidence that women are more responsible than men in waste management. Figure 1: Measure of Disposal Choices for Men and Women Discussion Main Findings There have been various careful researches and studies based on the relationships between gender and environmental friendliness. However, according to a general perception, women are believed to be more concerned about their environment than men because women have been named as environmentalists due to their biospehric orientation (James, 2009). This perception has not only been supported by other authors but it is also the main finding of this research. Experts suggest that though there is a relationship between gender and environmental awareness but this relationship must be studied and treated with great caution. Investigations have indicated that the relationship between gender and environmental awareness is also linked with social and cultural background where the individual comes from. Hence, different results can be expected from different social and cultural contexts. It seems females are more environmentally conscious than men on average when it comes to disposal of trash after eating. It was observed that the responses of the subjects were also different when the meals were finished. Most of the women appeared to be concerned and looking for correct disposal resources, whereas the men seemed more interested in simply getting along with their day. Not only this but generally women are found to be more inclined towards purchasing eco-friendly goods specially organic foods, they are more inclined towards recycling and more interested in efficient use of energy. Various researches on this topic have concluded that women are more interested to be eco-friendly than men. (Alexander, 2007) Disposing of trash after eating is also linked with transportation medium and diets of the people. These are the two significant areas where people can make careful choices to leave a positive effect on the environment. A large number of youngsters are habitual of eating while travelling and hence are responsible for throwing their trash in transportation areas. However, of these people, there is a large number of females who search for trash cans to get rid of their trash after eating whereas most of the men do not bother and throw their trash anywhere convenient to them. It would not be wise to ignore the percentage of females involved in activities which are not eco-friendly. There are also a significant number of females who are careless like men and at times the careful ones are also reluctant in finding the trash cans for disposing off their trash after eating. According to (Speshock, 2010), the laws of Mother Earth have 11 emerging basic rights for preserving nature. These rights include the fundamental right of living and exiting, the right to maintain and carry on the processes free from human modifications, the right of purifying water and cleaning air, the right of balancing, the right for prevention of pollution and the right that the cellular structures are not altered or modified genetically. According to our study, not a single respondent was aware of all these rights however, a few females were successful in remembering 1 or 2 of them which is evident why men are not interested in staying green for a healthier and better environment. (Redclift, 1997) postulates that women should not be treated as a single homogenous group to find their relationship with environmental awareness. He adds on that there are several factors affecting their roles and responsibilities like caste and social class, kinship, ethnicity, social and cultural affiliations and age. This also applies to the females residing in urban or rural areas. Since our research focused on a specific group of individuals belonging to the same age group, the results have been found to be more accurate and precise. Limitations Unfortunately, the experiment consisted of only a small sample size in retrospect to the population that this experiment involves. It is just a rough statistically significant result and could quite possibly vary in another experiment conducted the same way. The participants involved in the study may not always act the same, and change their behavior towards recycling depending on different variables they experience throughout the day Recommendations Environmental awareness is a sensitive and important topic of discussion these days among the masses. Following are a few recommendations from the author based on the research findings, which may be beneficial in improving the awareness among people and will eventually result in a cleaner and a healthier environment. Workshops and training sessions should be held at universities and colleges in order to bring awareness among the students and younger generation. Sessions should be held to pick a public park of beach and the students should be encouraged to clean them as part of preserving nature. Housewives should be taught of handling domestic wastes effectively. Since waste is at times contaminated chemically and biologically, awareness programs should include the health hazards and the potential risks involved if the waste is not disposed off effectively. Future Directions A good approach to improve the study would be to conduct the study during different times of the year. The study was conducted before the holiday season, however, it is very perceivable that results could change when people have more events to attend and people to see. It would also be a good approach, although somewhat shameful, to follow up on previous test subjects and observe how often they behave in such a manner. Moreover, it can also be an important aspect to conduct this research on individuals from different social and cultural backgrounds. It has been stated by various researchers that cultural and historical background has links with the relationship between gender and environmental awareness. For future research, emphasis can be given to the management of household waste which is usually handled by women. Training and awareness activities to teach the common female working at home for domestic waste management is an important topic for future studies. Impact of ineffective waste management on the human lives and the overall environment is an important area to be researched on. What are the benefits that can be achieved with efficient waste management and what kinds of innovations are required in this area can provide a new topic of research in this field. References Alexander, D., Benedict, M. A., & Mc-Mahon, E. T. (July 01, 2007). Green Infrastructure, Linking Landscapes and Communities. Natural Areas Journal, 27, 3, 282-283. Boylan, M. (2001). Environmental ethics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. James, M. R. (2009). Going Green: A Comparative Case Study of How Three Higher Education Institutions Achieved Progressive Measures of Environmental Sustainability. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml. Redclift, M. R., & Woodgate, G. (1997). The international handbook of environmental sociology. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Speshock, C. H. (2010). Empowering green initiatives with IT: A strategy and implementation guide. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Read More