Other College/University Studies
1) At Penn State, 34% of students had not taken environmental studies courses and 66% of them had.
2) 60% had cars, 40% no cars
3) Average # of showers was 1.13/day, average length was 9.9 minutes
4) QUESTION ON THE MAJOR RIVER BASIN THAT THE TOWN LIES IN: 22% got it right and 78% got it wrong.
5) QUESTION ON THE PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT PROTECTS THE ENVIRONMENT: 50% right 50% wrong.
6) QUESTION ON THE CAUSE OF ACID RAIN: 74% right 26% wrong
7) QUESTION ON GLOBAL HUMAN POPULATION: 40% right 60% wrong (range given was between 220 million and 100 billion people)
8) QUESTION OF SCHOOL ACTIONS AS THEY RELATE TO ENVIRONMENTALISM: 36% correct 64% wrong
9) QUESTION ON CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING: 68% right 32% wrong
1) Reading material is the most important source of environmental information (books, journals, newspapers)
2) (60% of 3rd and 4th year students declared that College is an important source of info, however, all classes said that high school was as important or more important in providing them with this information.
3) Students and staff have similar scores, with a range of 84-86%. (the highest score is 100% which means a person who is very environmentally literate—they define literacy in the same way we do. A score of 0% is someone who doesn’t know anything)
1) Solid waste and conservation are of high priority to the respondents. Eighty-four percent state they recycle, but only 29% always recycle. Eighty-two percent of all respondents have never visited the Tulane recycling center. The most recycled materials are those that are easiest to recycle. Of those who recycle, 72% recycle glass, 74% recycle aluminum and 69% recycle paper.
2) When it comes to purchasing products, 88% purchase recycled/recyclable products, but 51% would definitely discontinue if products cost 10-20% more. 45% purchase organically grown foods. Clearly, personal economics outweigh environmental concerns.
3) Water use among Tulane undergraduates does not reflect their environmental concerns. Only 41% make an effort to turn off the water while brushing their teeth and a mere 13% limit their showers to 6-8 minutes.
4) Energy conservation: 54% always turn the lights off before leaving their room. 44% admit they watch TV and listen to the radio at the same time. Only 25% will leave doors and windows open when the AC/heat is in use.
5) When the respondents were broken down into Science, Non-Science and Business-related majors, we found: Only 18% of Business-related majors always recycle where 25% of Science and Non-Science majors always recycle. There is no significant difference among the three categories of majors when it comes to purchasing recycled products. 70% of Business-related majors always leave the water running while brushing their teeth. In contrast, approximately 56% of both Science and Non-Science majors always leave the water running. Only four percent less Business-related majors always turn off their lights and appliances than Science majors. The Non-Science majors have the highest percentage who always turned off lights and appliances before leaving their residence. Noteworthy is that Non-Science majors show significantly more interest in taking an environmental studies class, followed by the Business-related majors. However, 58% of Business-related choose environmental quality over economic quality whereas 76% of Science majors and 70% of Non-Science majors prefer environmental quality.
6) We also broke down the statistics to analyze differences between on-campus and off-campus students. 26% of off-campus students always recycle whereas 21% of on-campus students recycle. Not all results show the same trends - 36% of off-campus students always left the water running while brushing their teeth whereas 25% of on-campus students left the water running. 65% of off-campus students always turn off their lights and appliances when they leave their residences where 45% of on-campus students always turn off lights and appliances.