Perceived recycling practices of the Sri Lankan pre-school/ school teachers

Abstract

Benefits of recycling as an essential practice is widely discussed issue in public as well as academic forums. In order to preserve the environment and create a greener Sri Lanka it is extremely important for Sri Lankan children to inculcate recycling into their daily habits. Hence, one of the greatest tasks of the educators is to equip Sri Lankan children with the attitudes, and behaviors pertaining to recycling by teaching and modeling it as a practice. In order to do succeed in this mission, it is important to explore the recycling practices of the teachers and preschools teachers. Hence, objective of the present study is to explore the perceived recycling practices of pre/school teachers in Sri Lanka to procure an indication pertaining to their recycling practices.

The present study explores the perceived recycling practices of 250 teachers and preschool teachers (females = 212; males = 35; gender not disclosed = 03) from 19 districts in Sri Lanka, using a survey questionnaire, with a four point rating scale. The results conveyed that total perceived recycling practices of the participants ranged between 7 to 20 (M = 15.36; S.D = 2.183), conveying a positive sense of perceived recycling among teachers. Majority of the participants had high positive rating for recycling practices such as reusing (221, 89.1%), recycling newspapers (164, 74.8%), encouraging friends or family to recycle (164, 69.2%), purchasing products/reusable or recyclable containers (164, 67.5%), picking up litter (195, 78.6%) and composting food scraps (156, 64.2%). However, few perceived to have practiced; conserving gasoline by walking or bicycling (74, 30.6%), writing a letter supporting environmental issues (30, 12.3%) and voting for a candidate who supported environmental issues (75, 30.9%).

Based on the results of the present study it could be said that though majority of the pre/school teachers displayed a high perceived sense of recycling practices; the consensus to recycle was far more frequent and vociferous in the areas which did not concern undergoing major personal hardships. Moreover, when the recycling practices were in line with the existing cultural practices and technically feasible within the purview of the participants, the participants were observed to have displayed increased desire to recycle. Since, the importance of recycling loom large in the present Sri Lankan context it is recommended to further explore the perceived as well actual recycling practices of the pre/school teachers.