Evaluation of Selected Recycling Curricula: Educating the Green Citizen

Abstract

The article reviews past research in environmental education and identifies eight variables as strong predictors of conservation behavior change: action skills, knowledge of action strategies, knowledge of the issue, attitudes, locus of control, personal responsibility, sensitivity, and social norms. Using these eight variables, the article reviews 14 solid waste curricula from various programs around the country. The resulting scores demonstrated that solid waste curricula focus mainly on knowledge and include, to a lesser extent, attitude change and action strategies. The article suggests reasons for the omission of action skills, locus of control, personal responsibility, sensitivity, and social norms and makes recommendations to improve the contribution education can make toward mitigating the solid waste crisis, promoting waste-reducing behaviors and encouraging environmental stewardship.