Environmental education of students as a factor in social capital development (through the example of the practice of household waste separate collection)

Abstract

Introduction. Social capital is a set of resources for human social interaction – social ties, rules of social exchange and trust. As the most important part of human capital, social capital becomes an indicator of society cohesion mainly in the matters of implementation of socio-system values – the survival and integrity of society, care for current and future generations. In this regard, the implementation of environmental values is an important direction in the development of social capital and a key task of students’ environmental education. Students’ environmental education is possible by solving an urgent social problem – the separate collection of household waste. This problem is becoming more and more relevant and discussed both at the regulatory and public levels. There is no formed public opinion – the understanding of possibilities and threats of this problem, the readiness of the population to participate in its solution. The purpose of the article was to analyze the views of students regarding the prospects and possibilities of solving the problem of separate waste collection in society, their readiness to independently participate in this practice, as well as to assess the possibilities of using this practice for the purpose of environmental education and increasing social solidarity. Materials and methods: 1) a qualitative substantive analysis of 200 students’ essays on the topic “Environmental Problems of My Region”; 2) a survey of 400 students of the Vyatka State University. Results. Students’ high willingness to practice separate waste collection against the background of other environmental practices (up to 70%, mostly girls (χ2=24.1, p=0.001), senior students (χ2=70, p=0.0). High cognitive interest in this problem is shown – 53% of students would like to study it further. Students consider the purchase of goods in biodegradable packaging as a first step towards reducing the amount of garbage (97% of students are ready to do this to varying degrees). First of all, students are ready to collect non-perishable waste – paper, plastic, glass, to a lesser extent – organic waste, metal, clothes, and shoes. More than half of the students understand that the practice of separate waste collection is a promising direction in the development of a civilized society, contributing to the improvement of yard aesthetics, improving the quality of the environment, preserving valuable resources, forests and, in general, manifestations of care for future generations. The main directions of work on environmental education and social solidarity are outlined on the basis of the data obtained.