The Impact of Recycling Education on the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Grade School Children

A number of school systems have instituted environmental education programs to increase environmental awareness among their students. The primary goals of these programs are to increase environmental knowledge, instill proenvironmental attitudes, and encourage proenvironmental behaviors. Many of these programs operate under the general premise that if one changes global environmental attitudes and beliefs this change will impact a large number of proenvironmental behaviors (Bell, Fisher, Baum & Greene, 1996). Unfortunately, this premise has not always been supported by the research findings (Lipsey, 1977; Fortner & Teates, 1980). While the education programs seem to enhance awareness and change attitude and a specific behavior is weak (Diamond & Loewy, 1991). One of the main reasons for this is the lack of consistency between a general attitude and a specific behavior (Bell, Fisher, Baum & Green, 1996). As a general rule attitude and behavior congruency occurs primarily when a specific attitude is closely linked to a specific behavior (Bell, Fisher, Baum & Greene, 1996). Other issues of interest for environmental educators are the characteristics of the target population and the pedagogical approach of the curriculum. It has been suggested that environmental awareness education is most effective on younger pre adolescent children who do not have well-established environmental habits (Asch & Shore, 1975). It is also possible that a more hands on experiential approach may be more effective in changing attitudes and behaviors than a primarily knowledge based presentation. This study assessed the effectiveness of a short duration recycling education program that attempted to link specific environmental knowledge and attitudes towards paper recycling with the paper recycling behavior of grade school children. It was expected that students would demonstrate improved recycling knowledge, more prorecycling attitudes, and engage in more recycling behaviors after experiencing the education program. Three variables that may have an impact on the effectiveness of the education program were also explored. These variables were type of school (public or private), grade level at time of presentation, and classroom presentation or field trip to a landfill. Method Participants The sample consisted of 349 students in grade three through six attending public and private schools in the city of Cincinnati. The recycling education program was part of an ongoing education effort sponsored by Keeping Cincinnati Beautiful. The program was presented to students in response to an invitation by the school's science curriculum faculty. Two versions of the paper recycling education program were used. The first consisted of a classroom presentation which stressed basic knowledge of how paper is recycled, the need for recycling and some suggestions as to how students can reuse paper. Version two of the program was similar to the classroom presentation but the knowledge portion focused primarily on landfill composition and included a tour of a local landfill. The classroom presentation was administered to 200 students. The landfill program was experienced by 149 students. Materials Two forms of the knowledge measures were developed based on the programs curriculum. One form assessed knowledge of paper production and recycling and the other form assessed knowledge of landfill composition and recycling. The attitude questionnaire consisted of 6 statements pertaining to paper recycling. Students indicated their level of agreement with each statement by placing a mark on a five-point Likert scale with alternatives ranging strongly agree to strongly disagree. The most prorecycling answers were worth five points and the least prorecycling answers were valued at one point. The behavioral measure consisted of a self-report account of prorecycling behaviors that the student engaged in during the past week. …