Energy conservation strategies among American college students

Abstract

This research compares both attitudes and recycling behaviors in a sample of college males and females (N = 302), a demographic group whose behaviors and willingness to adopt environmentally sound policies will become the dominant force for environmental reform in the USA in approaching decades. Consistent with prior research, women were significantly more likely to support strategies for energy conservation and were much more apt to always recycle. Among males (but not females), frequent recyclers of plastic were more supportive of energy conservation strategies, while for women, the link between attitudes and behavior is weaker, perhaps due to women's purported communitywelfare orientation. In addition, because the strategies that received the most support from both sexes, walking to work or school, and purchasing and cooking with local produce, may reflect the resulting health benefits as much as concern for environmental sustainability, we should consider marketing the link between environmental altruism and personal wellbeing among young populations.