Therefore this research will be done to understand the numerous ways of “going green” and the different ways that students can exercise being green. It is also to see how much students really know about being green, and ways to raise awareness about it.
1.2 Problem Statement
A lot of student might notice that it’s become easier and easier to burn under the sun with shorter exposure time. Human activities add greater amount of emissions into the atmosphere, the gases compromise the protective cover; the ozone layer, resulting in increased exposure.
When students open their MMLS they can see a poster that bans polystyrene. Also walking around campus there are posters about banning polystyrene. This banning is used to reduce the use of this non-biodegradable polystyrene that is often used in making eating utensils, thus it affects the environment.
The lifestyles of the students vary according to their preference. Most of the student use polystyrene container to buy lunch, use plastic bag when shopping do not separate their rubbish in orderly manner that ease up recycling effort, over usage of electrical appliances and others.
The purpose of this research is to increase awareness of the students about the importance of go green environment.
1.3 Research Objectives
- What percentage of students is aware of climate change?
- To what extent are the university students taking action towards go green?
- What are the factors influencing university students to be involved in green activities?
- What are the significant predictors of students being involved in green activities?
- What can be done to encourage Green awareness?
1.4 Contributions of study
Universities around the world are doing everything to become a green university. From the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ campaign to using naturally fueled buses. MMU only recently has started to promote greener lifestyle and as understood, living a sustainable lifestyle or "green living" seems second nature to those living with eco awareness in their life, therefore the purpose of the research is to increase the awareness about go green; eco-friendly products and encouragement of living “greener” lifestyle among MMU students. Another aim of the research is to indicate the factors that influence awareness about green lifestyle and the factors that have correlation with it. The finding must help MMU Green Club to focus and put more effort on those factors that have highest influence and correlation with green lifestyle. Knowing and focusing on right factors will increase greenness in students’ hearts and change of mind for those individuals that really do not see value in eco awareness.
SECTION 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
This part of the research is whereby reference is made to previous researches in the same topic or field. Unfortunately there have not been any studies conducted in Multimedia University about people's attitudes towards going green, or they have not be published for public use. So the next step is to refer to the ones conducted in general and maybe try to relate it to the students in MMU, because sometimes people have similarities in their behavior.
There were 4 articles that were of interest and they were as follows:
1. Benefits of going green by Going GreenHints.com dated April 2,2009 - this article discussed on the benefits of going green in order to encourage people to take necessary action to help the environment, this was because people dragged their feet in taking this actions maybe because they lacked knowledge or maybe they did not see the importance. The following were listed as the benefits
- save the earth
- save health
- save money
- save the economy and
- it just feels good.
2. Being Green: Attitudes to the Environment by Paula Devine and Katrina Lloyd- "Every year people living in Northern Ireland throw away enough waste to cover the whole country. Most of this waste ends up in landfills, which are costly, unsightly and may have major impacts on the environment and on the health of the population. Saving the environment in Northern Ireland has become a big issue in recent months. The Wake up to Waste advertising campaign is attempting to change both the attitudes and the behavior of the public in Northern Ireland towards waste. The message being promoted is ‘the three R's’: Reduce, Re-use and Recycle." ..."In the light of this increased media attention and the attempts of campaigns such as Wake up to Waste to heighten public awareness of environmental issues, this update uses findings from the 2000 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey to gauge how receptive the people of Northern Ireland may be to changing their behavior, as well as their attitudes, towards the environment." This is an extract from the introduction of the study.
This was the conclusion to their study
"Perhaps there is a sense of it being someone else’s problem, especially given than Northern Ireland as a whole is seen as not doing enough to protect the environment. There is widespread support for tougher legislation, especially in relation to business and industry that are seen as doing least to protect the environment. The overall message, however, is that the public of Northern Ireland is not environmentally active."
Therefore some people or most people feel it is not their problem that there will be a climate change or the Earth is in serious danger from the waste, so the willingness to act towards helping the environment is quite low.
3. Do people care enough to save the Planet by Chris Woodford (July 4-2011)
In this study Chris Woodford starts off by explaining a few things about the planet we live in just to give people a brief understanding on it, he covers factors as ambivalent about the environment, the way we live now, what people really think about the environment ;
1. How important is the environment compared to other issues?
2. What issues concern people at different geographic levels?
3. Can we solve our problems? Who should solve them?
4. What are you willing to do? How much are you willing to pay to protect the environment?
After conducting his research, these were the findings he obtained:
- Most people agree that protecting the environment is important.
- Most people are ambivalent about the steps they would take.
- Most people are willing to consider sacrificing economic growth for environmental protection.
- There is a vicious circle relating public opinion, media interest, and political commitment.
- Public opinion peaked in 1989 and has barely increased since then.
- People have a poor understanding of environmental issues.
- People don't make the connections between causes and effects.
- There is an urgent need for comprehensive attitude measurement
4. Environmental Knowledge and Attitude among Students in Sabah by -Rosta Harun, Lim Kuang Hock and Fadhilah Othman
"Abstract: Environmental awareness among students is highly influenced by their background, knowledge, attitude and sensitivity towards the environment. The objectives of this study are to identify level of knowledge on environmental literacy and attitude towards environmental issues that are occurring in Malaysia presently among students in Sabah, Malaysia. Multi-stage stratified sampling was used to select the samples. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire which was developed by expert panel which consisted of lecturers and teachers through two sessions of focus group discussions (FGD). The items developed for the questionnaires took into consideration the environmental problems which have existed locally as well as cultural sensitivities of local community. Pilot test among 50 form four secondary school students show moderate level of internal l consistency of knowledge (Cronbach Alpha -0.68) and attitude (Cronbach alpha 0.72) domains. 1106 (95%) of 1200 sample responded the study. The result show that in general, students in Sabah particularly from Form 4 level have high level of environmental knowledge except for several items which measure the current environmental issues in Malaysia such as Carbon dioxide and climate change. Their attitudes are influenced by the level of knowledge that they have concerning the environment. “This here is an abstract from their research. They conclusion was as follows:
The level of awareness is quite good among the Form 4 students, however current issue knowledge is lacking among the students. The students' attitude towards the environment is influenced by the knowledge they have about the environment.
SECTION 3
PROPOSED RESEARCH FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH METHODS
3.1 Research framework
Factors- independent variable actions- dependent variable
- knowledge
- interest
- health
- personal attitude
- awareness of climate change
3.2 Research Methodology
3.2.1 Introduction
This is the section that briefly states or explains the methods that will be used to conduct the research. It covers research design, research instrument, population and sampling chosen for the study, data collection and data analysis.
3.2.2 Research design
This is a correlation study and uses the survey method to collect data.
3.2.3 Research instrument
Questionnaire will be used to get the information from the respondents or targeted audience. Interviews will be implemented where necessary but the main tool of research that will be used is the questionnaire. The questionnaire will consist of several component, namely (i) Demographic background; (ii) Knowledge; (iii) Perception; (iv) Attitude; (iv) Behavioral; (v) Sensitivity and other important factors under study.
3.2.4 Population and Sampling
Since questionnaires will be used to collect primary data, they will be issued to different people of different nationalities to avoid biased conclusion. Multimedia University has a number of international students and local too so that will be used as an advantage in order to reach a more general conclusion.
References
by
daudi4me (student)
