Abstract
We examined attitudes and behavior surrounding voluntary recycling in a population of low-income Hispanic women. Participants (N = 1,512) 18–55 years of age completed a self-report survey and responded to questions regarding household recycling behavior, recycling knowledge, recycling beliefs, potential barriers to recycling (transportation mode, time), acculturation, demographic characteristics (age, income, employment, marital status, education, number of children, birth country), and social desirability. Forty-six percent of participants (n = 810) indicated that they or someone else in their household recycled. In a logistic regression model controlling for social desirability, recycling behavior was related to increased age (P<0.05), lower acculturation (P<0.01), knowing what to recycle (P<0.01), knowing that recycling saves landfill space (P<0.05), and disagreeing that recycling takes too much time (P<0.001). A Sobel test revealed that acculturation mediated the relationship between recycling knowledge and recycling behavior (P<0.05). We offer new information on recycling behavior among Hispanic women and highlight the need for educational outreach and intervention strategies to increase recycling behavior within this understudied population.
Highlights
243 million tons of municipal solid waste, or 4.3 pounds/person/day, were generated in the United States during 2009
Using a multivariate framework which controlled for social desirability, we examined the relationships between recycling behavior and demographic characteristics, acculturation, knowledge regarding recycling, and potential barriers to recycling
Seventy-one percent (n = 1076) of women disagreed with the statement, ‘‘I don’t know what to recycle’’ and 88% (n = 1332) of women agreed with the statement ‘‘Recycling helps save landfill space.’’ Seventy-six percent (n = 1148) of women disagreed with the statement ‘‘Recycling takes too much time’’
Summary
243 million tons of municipal solid waste, or 4.3 pounds/person/day, were generated in the United States during 2009. 82 million tons of waste, or 1.5 pounds/ person/day, were recycled in the United States during 2009. This equates to a recycling rate of 34%, a rate which has been steadily increasing since 1965 [1]. Increased access to recycling facilities may result in increased participation in recycling programs [4,10,11,12,13]. Access to recycling services mediated the influence of socioeconomic and demographic variables on recycling behavior [14]
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