Public attitudes and behaviors toward waste management and environmental policies in Washtenaw County.

This dissertation investigates the linkages among various factors influencing residents' attitudes toward waste management and environmental policy, and their proenvironmental behavior in rural, suburban and urban settings. Each of these settings can be found in Washtenaw County, MI. The specific goals of this research are: (1) to understand the causes of proenvironmental orientations and behaviors, (2) to estimate the impact of locational and institutional practices on public attitudes and behaviors, (3) to understand to what extent the public supports or opposes government regulations dealing with waste management, and (4) to analyze the effects of both postmaterialist and biospheric values on proenvironmental behaviors. Survey data were gathered from a study area that was stratified by census tract. Equal numbers of individuals were selected randomly from each strata. A total of 1120 survey questionnaires were mailed during the second week of October 1997; 488 completed surveys were returned, providing an overall response rate of 48%. Using the software, SPSS and AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structure), various statistical analyses were performed including bivariate and multivariate analysis, and structural equation modeling. Among the key findings, differences were shown between urban and rural respondents, but the findings for suburban people were mixed in terms of attitudes and behaviors. Urban respondents appear to be more liberal, and more actively involved in environmentally relevant political behavior. These people also participate in recycling more frequently than rural and suburban respondents. On the other hand, rural respondents who pay for waste collection service through a private hauler, are more supportive of a volume-based charge system. Suburban respondents recycled and precycled less than others, but findings were inconsistent in regard to their attitudes. In comparing human values, postmaterialists appear to be slightly younger and to have attained more education than materialists. Postmaterialists also more actively participate in environmentally relevant political behavior, and give higher priority to biospheric and altruistic values. In addition, biospheric values have a strong relationship with proenvironmental attitudes, further demonstrating direct linkages to the behavior dimensions except for recycling. Overall, willingness to vote for the ecological party is explained the most, and recycling behavior the least by respondents' attitudes and socio-economic status.PhDEnvironmental scienceHealth and Environmental SciencesPublic administrationSocial SciencesUrban planningUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/131298/2/9840621.pd