Abstract
It has been widely acknowledged that environmental literacy can provide a strong foundation for future environmental responsiveness, as well as help in the transition towards more sustainable societies and healthy living. According to environmentalists and social scientists, behavioural intentions to sustainable consumption and lifestyle among citizens will help to nurture global environmental and economic sustainability and foster environment and human health development. The study tries to assess the adoption of sustainable lifestyle and healthy lifestyle practices through the designing and demonstration of quantitative method applying environmental literacy as a major predictor in the process which leverages environmental attitude towards such outcomes based on a literacy-sustainability-lifestyle-health modelling framework. The gap between learning and implementation should be addressed through integration of sustainability issues in awareness campaigns by government, NGOs, local bodies and educational institutions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmed N, Ahmed S, Carmichael Z, Sami AS (2017) Measuring healthy lifestyle and mental health indicators in South Asian women using the “Your Health: Quality of Life and Well-Being” questionnaire. Annals of Global Health 83(3–4):463–470
Andersson D, Nassen J, Larsson J (2014) Greenhouse gas emissions and subjective wellbeing: an analysis of Swedish households. Ecol Econ 102:75–82
Arkesteijn K, Oerlemans L (2005) The early adoption of green power by Dutch households: an empirical exploration of factors influencing the early adoption of green electricity for domestic purposes. Energy Policy 33(2):183–196
Axsen J, Kurani KS (2012) Interpersonal influence within car buyers' social networks: applying five perspectives to plug-in hybrid vehicle drivers. Environ Plan A 44:1057–1065
Axsen J, Hageman T, Lentz A (2012) Lifestyle practices and pro-environmental technology. Ecol Econ 82:64–74
Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50(2):179–211
Ajzen I (2002) Perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy locus of control and the theory of planned behavior. J Appl Soc Psychol 32(4):665–683
Anderson JC, Gerbing DW (1988) Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and recommended two-step approach. Psychol Bull 103(3):411–423
Biggs MT, Owens JG et al (2019) Development and initial validation of the support for healthy lifestyle (SHeL) questionnaire for adolescents. Eat Behav. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.101310
Bamberg S, Schmidt P (2003) Incentives, morality, or habit? Predicting students’ car use for university routes with the models of Ajzen, Schwartz, and Triandis. Environ Behav 35:264–285
Biswas A, Roy M (2015a) Green products: an exploratory study on the consumer behaviour in emerging economies of the east. J Clean Prod 87:463–468
Biswas A, Roy M (2015b) Leveraging factors for sustained green consumption behavior based on consumption value perceptions: testing the structural model. J Clean Prod 95:332–340
Biswas A (2017) A consumption value-gap analysis for sustainable consumption. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24(8):7714–7725
Biswas A (2018) Effect of sstrategic marketing on sustainable business performance–a study of pharmaceutical industries in India. Indian J Pharma Ed Res 53(1):21–27
Biswas A, Roy M (2018) Technology acceptance perception for promotion of sustainable consumption. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25(7):6329–6339
Bissinger K, Bogner FX (2017) Environmental literacy in practice: education on tropical rainforests and climate change. Environ Dev Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-9978-9
Boztepe A (2012) Green marketing and its impact on consumer buying behavior. Eur J Econ Polit Stud 5(1)
Brick C, Lewis GJ (2014) Unearthing the “Green” personality: core traits predict environmentally friendly behavior. Environ Behav 48(5):635–658
Colleen M. McGovern, Lisa K. Militello, Kimberly J. Arcoleo & Bernadette M. Melnyk (2018). Factors associated with healthy lifestyle behaviors among adolescents. National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Debby REC, Miller W, Winter J, Bailey I, Sterling S (2015) Developing students’ energy literacy in higher education. Int J Sustain High Educ 16(4):456–473
Dunn P, Hazzard E (2019) Technology approaches to digital health Literacy. Int J Cardiol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2019.06.039
Earl, P.E., (1986). Lifestyle economics: consumer behaviour in a turbulent world.Wheatsheaf Books, p. 314
Fifita ME, Seo Y, Ko E, Conroy D, Hong D (2019) Fashioning organics: wellbeing, sustainability, and status consumption practices. J Bus Res
Fishbein M, Ajzen I (1975) Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: an introduction to theory and research. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA
Fischer D, Böhme T, Geiger SM (2017) Measuring young consumers’ sustainable consumption behavior: development and validation of the YCSCB scale. Young Consum 18(3):312–326
Fornell C, Larcker DF (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. J Mark Res 18(1):39–50
Gadenne D, Sharma B, Kerr D, Smith T (2011) The influence of consumers' environmental beliefs and attitudes on energy saving behaviours. Energy Policy 39:7684–7694
Hamid S, TahaIjab M, Sulaiman H, Anwar RM, Norman AA (2017) Social media for environmental sustainability awareness in higher education. Int J Sustain High Educ 18(4):474–491
Han H, Hsu LTJ, Sheuc C (2010) Application of the theory of planned behavior to green hotel choice: testing the effect of environmental friendly activities. Tour Manag 31(3):325–334
Hares M, Eskonheimo A, Myllyntaus T, Luukkanen O (2006) Environmental literacy in interpreting endangered sustainability case studies from Thailand and the Sudan. Geo forum 37:128–144
Hens L, Wiedemann T, Raath S, Stone R, Renders P, Craenhals E, Richter B (2010) Monitoring environmental management at primary schools in South Africa. J Clean Prod 18(7):666–677
Howard B (2007) LOHAS consumers are taking the world by storm. Total Health 29(3):58
Jain S, Khan M, Mishra S (2017) Understanding consumer behaviour regarding luxury fashion goods in India based on the theory of planned behaviour. J Asia Bus Stud 11(1):4–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-08-2015-0118
Jarron M, Onge S, Krueger PM (2017) Health lifestyle behaviors among U.S. adults. SSM – Population Health 3:89–98
Kaiser FG, Wolfing S, Fuhrer U (1999) Environmental attitude and ecological behaviour. J Environ Psychol 19:1–19
Keles R (2012) The quality of life and the Environment. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 35:23–32
Khare A (2015) Antecedents to green buying behaviour: a study on consumers in an emerging economy. Mark Intell Plan 33(3):309–329
Kollmuss A, Agyeman J (2002) Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behaviour? Environ Educ Res 8(3):239–260
McKenzie-Mohr D (2000) Fostering sustainable behavior through community-based social marketing. Am Psychol 55(5):531–537
Nath V, Kumar R, Agrawal R, Gautam A, Sharma V (2013) Consumer adoption of green products: modeling the enablers. Glob Bus Rev 14(3):453–470
Paswan A, Guzman F, Lewin J (2017) Attitudinal determinants of environmentally sustainable behavior. J Consum Mark 34(5):414–426
Picha K, Navratil J (2019) The factors of lifestyle of health and sustainability influencing pro-environmental buying behaviour. J Clean Prod 234:233–241
Ramdas, Mohamed B (2014) Impacts of tourism on environmental attributes, environmental literacy and willingness to pay: a conceptual and theoretical review. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 144:378–391
Roberts JA, Bacon DR (1997) Exploring the subtle relationships between environmental concern and ecologically conscious consumer behavior. J Bus Res 40(1):79–89
Royo ME (2019) Sustainable consumption and wellbeing: does on-line shopping matter? J Clean Prod 229:1112–1124
Rudell F (2006) Shopping with a social conscience: consumer attitudes toward sweatshop labor. Cloth Text Res J 24(4):282–296
Saxena, R., Khandelwal, P., (2010). Can green marketing be used as a tool for sustainable growth?: a study performed on consumers in India- an emerging economy. Int. J. Environ. Cult. Econ. Soc. Sustain. 6 (2)
Sanquist T, Orr H, Shui B, Bittner A (2012) Lifestyle factors in U.S. residential electricity consumption. Energy Policy 42:354–364
Spaargaren G (2003) Sustainable consumption: a theoretical and environmental policy perspective. Soc Nat Resour 16:687–701
Sung J, Hong JW (2019) Investigating male consumers’ lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) and perception toward slow fashion. J Retail Consum Serv 49:120–128
Swaim J, Maloni M, Napshin S, Henley A (2014) Influences on student intention and behavior toward environmental sustainability. J Bus Ethics 124(3):465–484
Streimikiene D (2015) Environmental indicators for the assessment of quality of life. Int Econ 9:67–79
Tilbury D (2012) Higher education for sustainability: a global overview of commitment and progress, In: Higher Education in the World 4. Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability: From Understanding to Action. GUNi Series on the Social Commitment of Universities, vol. 4. CPI William Clowes, Great Britain
UNESCO (2004). UN decade for education for sustainable development (2005-2014). available at: http://portal.unesco.org/ education/en/ev.php
UNESCO (2014). Education for sustainable development (ESD), available at: www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for sustainable-development
Velazquez L, Munguia N, Sanchez M (2005) Deterring sustainability in higher education institutions: an appraisal of the factors which influence sustainability in higher education institutions. Int J Sustain High Educ 6(4):383–391
Wang P, Liu Q, Qi Y (2013) Factors influencing sustainable consumption behaviors: a survey of the rural residents in China. J Clean Prod:1–14
Watson M, Yan RN (2013) An exploratory study of the decision processes of fast versus slow fashion consumers. J. Fash. Mark. Manag.: Int. J. 17(2):141–159
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM1
(DOCX 12 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Biswas, A. A nexus between environmental literacy, environmental attitude and healthy living. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 5922–5931 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07290-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07290-5