Enhancing marine citizenship as a strategy to promote the reduction of single-use plastics consumption in different cultures

Abstract

Single-use plastics (SUP) coming from the land represent a large fraction of marine plastic debris that threatens the ocean biota today and are one of the main causes of microplastic pollution. Consumer behavior is essential to stop the use and improper disposal of SUP, replacing plastic with alternative eco-friendly products. For the evident plastic pollution of beaches and seas, marine citizenship, interpreted as the personal responsibility that individuals take for the oceans, could help to reduce SUP use and change to sustainable alternatives. Here we studied SUP consumption behaviors in Spain (n = 585) and Mexico (n = 337) using a multivariate multiple regression approach. Different policies and social norms in the two countries were reflected in reduced SUP use in Mexico compared to Spain and more recycling in Spain than in Mexico. The main reasons for the use of SUP were the lack of alternatives and forgetting reusable goods in the two countries. Feeling responsible for the ocean predicted the intention to use eco-friendly alternatives, while sea frequentation predicted recycling. Gender, age, and education influenced significantly the willingness to use eco-friendly alternatives. From the results of this study, campaigns promoting awareness through increased ocean literacy and marine citizenship—even in regions far from the sea—could promote reductions in SUP consumption, enhancing the use of sustainable alternatives. Those campaigns could be tailored by country, taking into account local policies and habits, gender, age, and educational levels.

Green Cosmetics in Indonesia: Unraveling Attitude-Behavior Gap and Gender Moderation

“…This gender moderation is statistically sig-nificant and suggests that environmental consciousness may substantially influence the intention to purchase among females. These results are consistent with similar research conducted by Xiao et al (2022), Deng et al (2020) in China, andGarcia-Vazquez et al (2022) in Spain, highlighting the more vital pro-environmental attitude of women.…”

“…Some studies suggest moderate gender differences in green knowledge and consumption behavior (Costa-Pinto et al, 2014;Zhao et al, 2021), while others do not find such distinctions (Bailey et al, 2018). There are conflicting findings on gender-related environmental consciousness, with some research showing women exhibit stronger proenvironmental attitudes (Garcia-Vazquez et al, 2022;Xiao et al, 2022) and others suggesting men may have environmental knowledge and more profound concern for environmental issues (Migheli, 2021;Visser and Dlamini, 2021;Zhao et al, 2021) Regarding Perceived Behavior Control and subjective norms, men and women are influenced by their ability to make product purchases. However, men may emphasize their ability and control when making choices, while women may be more open to changing preferences based on their beliefs (Shin et al, 2020).…”