Landscape's relation to park use and sets of environmentally responsible behavior among suburban residents

My dissertation focuses on how landscape impact environmental literacy (EL), engagement in environmentally responsible behaviors, and the existence of latent sets of environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs). Using mailed surveys, I was able to determine that persons living near higher quality parks and parks with greater canopy cover had higher levels of EL; however, park visitation was not related to EL levels. I then used an online questionnaire to determine levels of engagement in 38 ERBs from six categories. These could be sorted into three distinct sets, which were not based on the six a priori categories of ERBs. The ERB sets could be sorted into actions that are clearly “green” or “environmental” in nature, and those more related to efficiency. I then modeled the relationships of the nine behaviors in these sets based on landscape. Findings indicated that only one – proper appliance disposal -could be conclusively linked to landscape features. Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Daniel George Clar