The Spillover Influence of Household Waste Sorting on Green Consumption Behavior by Mediation of Environmental Concern: Evidence from Rural China.

Ying Ma,Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar,Huiling Wang,Rong Kong,Shaoxiong Yang

doi:10.3390/ijerph17239110

Abstract

The spillover effect of environmental behavior has been of wide concern in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of household waste sorting on green consumption (behavioral spillover) and the possible psychological mechanisms involved in such spillover of environmental concern. Though it is important, insufficient attention has been paid to exploring the relationship, and the process of its formation, between waste sorting and green consumption. To narrow this gap, survey data collected in 2018 from 688 rural households from Shaanxi Province in western China were used. The propensity score matching method was employed to measure the effect of waste sorting on rural households’ green consumption. The mediating model was employed to investigate the path of influence in the relationship between waste sorting and green consumption. The results showed that waste sorting behavior positively spilled over into green consumption, with a net effect of 0.205. Environmental concern has a mediating effect on the relationship between waste sorting and green consumption behavior, with a mediating effect of 0.3177. In summary, household waste sorting behavior has a spillover effect on green consumption behavior as a result of the mediation effect of environmental concern. The results of this article fill in our knowledge on the spillover effects of waste sorting behavior in developing countries. Policy makers and regulators should vigorously advocate and implement waste sorting behavior, increase farmers’ concern for the environment, and promote their participation in green consumption behavior, so as to maximize the spillover effect.

Highlights

People have realized that industrial civilization has improved living standards; it has led to a series of severe ecological problems in terms of the global environmental crisis and resource depletion [1]
“Hhead_age squared” on WSB is −0.001, and it is significant at a statistical level of 1%. This indicates that householder age has a “Reverse U” relationship with such participation, meaning, compared with young and old householders, and middle-aged householders are more likely to participate in WSB
The purpose of this paper was to explore the influence of WSB on green consumption behavior and possible psychological mechanisms of mediation of environmental concern

Summary

Introduction

People have realized that industrial civilization has improved living standards; it has led to a series of severe ecological problems in terms of the global environmental crisis and resource depletion [1]. Taking China as an example, the data show that China produces nearly 1 billion metric tons of waste every year, including 400 million metric tons of domestic waste, 500 million metric tons of construction waste, and 10 million metric tons of kitchen waste. The amount of waste is growing by 8% to 10% every year in China (Published by the China Association of urban environmental sanitation at http://cnues.com). The rural population accounts for more than 45% of the total population in China, but the amount of waste reaches up to 0.86 kg per person per day, seriously restricting transformations toward environmental improvement [2]. Public Health 2020, 17, 9110; doi:10.3390/ijerph17239110 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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