Study of the Relationship between Pro-Environmental Product Use and Environmental Concern

摘要

For organizations or communities to be sustainable, they need to maintain a complex balance of societal, environmental, and economic principles. Recently, Pro-E technologies and products have begun to meet the economic and environmental requirements of sustainability; however, lack of societal acceptance is preventing organizations and communities from becoming truly sustainable. The remaining hurdle to becoming sustainable is having society's beliefs and behaviors aligned. Understanding the interaction between an individual's environmental beliefs and environmental behaviors is essential to bringing them into alignment. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) is a measure of the ecological beliefs or concerns of an individual, and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a measure environmental behavior. To answer the questions posed by this thesis, a survey instrument based on the NEP and the TBP was administered to graduate students at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). The survey measured the students' attitudes, intentions, and use regarding 6 pro-environmental products. In addition, demographic information was collected on the students' ages, education levels, gender, and marital status. Following the administration of the survey, the collected data were statistically analyzed. The results of the survey show that, overall, AFIT students support using Pro-E products and also report a fair use of the products. In addition, the Pro-E products that students felt they had the most control over using showed significantly higher intentions to use and reported usage. This research suggests that if the Air Force wants to meet the energy efficiency or ecological goals of the future, a good way to do so is to engage its employees in using Pro-E products.