Poster Details
DO COLLEGE STUDENTS CONSERVE WATER?
Human behavior is a key determinant of the state of the environment, and the accumulated effects of many individual and household decisions have significant impacts on the natural resources. Freshwater is one resource most susceptible to human influences. Although 70% of Earth is covered by water, <3% of it is freshwater, and very little of this water is easily accessible for human use. Large universities operate much like small cities and therefore may help in understanding human behaviors and perceptions as related to water conservation. Our research aimed to investigate a few questions. What motivated students at the U.S.’s fourth largest university conserve water in their household or dorm room? What obstacles do students run into that prevent them from conserving water? And, what measures and policies has the university taken or implemented to conserve water in contrast to other universities around the nation? We surveyed >1000 students with a set of questions related to these overarching themes. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior and/or MINDSPACE framework to analyze our results. We plan to share our results with administrators and the sustainability office at FIU and other universities.
Elizabeth P Anderson (Primary Presenter/Author), Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA, eanderson8@gmail.com;
Melissa Lau (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Florida International University, mlau006@fiu.edu;