The Value-Action Gap in Waste Recycling: The Case of Undergraduates in Hong Kong

The discrepancy between verbal and actual commitment in waste recycling and environmental behavior is thought to have attenuated the effectiveness of many environmental policy and measures. Studies purport to show the existence of such a value-action gap in environmental issues has been largely based on matching the verbal commitment to environmental value through self-reported environmental behavioral data. Therefore, there is a lack of direct evidence to prove that such a discrepancy exists. This study demonstrates a methodology (contrasting on-site observation with self-reported results) to measure the gap between verbal commitment and actual recycling behavior and provides an explanation on the recycling behavior of students at Hong Kong Baptist University in the hope that the lessons learnt can be generalized to a wider context. Our findings indicate that a gap between verbal recycling commitment and corresponding action does exist in waste recycling on this university campus. By using multiple linear regression analysis, we found that the self-reported recycling behavior of undergraduates cannot be meaningfully explained by most variables previously suggested in the general value-action model.     

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT

This preview examines the background of UNCSTD, its agenda and objectives. It previews some issues concerning the choice and transfer of technology, a substantive item on the Conference agenda, and highlights the role in the Conference of scientists in natural resources and other fields.     

Safety management systems: Performance differences between adopters and non-adopters

The aim of this paper is to assess, through an empirical investigation, whether the performance of safety management systems (SMSs) adopting and non-adopting companies statistically differ. To achieve such aim, empirical data were collected on a sample of 116 companies, encompassing both SMSs adopters and non-adopters. Hypotheses testing was performed to assess whether SMSs adopters experience significantly higher performance against (i) definition of safety and security goals and their communication to employees; (ii) risk data updating and risk analysis; (iii) identification of risks and definition of corrective actions; (iv) employees training. Results show that companies adopting SMSs exhibit higher performance against all the topics identified. These outcomes could be the starting point for providing empirical evidence of benefits achievable thanks to SMSs implementation.     

Material cycle realization by hazardous phosphogypsum waste,ferrous slag,and lime production waste application to produce sustainable construction materials

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The article presents data from new compositions of construction materials developed from three types of Kazakhstan enterprises’ industrial...     

On the road to ‘research municipalities’: analysing transdisciplinarity in municipal ecosystem services and adaptation planning

Transdisciplinary research and collaboration is widely acknowledged as a critical success factor for solution-oriented approaches that can tackle complex sustainability challenges, such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate-related hazards. In this context, city governments’ engagement in transdisciplinarity is generally seen as a key condition for societal transformation towards sustainability. However, empirical evidence is rare. This paper presents a self-assessment of a joint research project on ecosystem services and climate adaptation planning (ECOSIMP) undertaken by four universities and seven Swedish municipalities. We apply a set of design principles and guiding questions for transdisciplinary sustainability projects and, on this basis, identify key aspects for supporting university–municipality collaboration. We show that: (1) selecting the number and type of project stakeholders requires more explicit consideration of the purpose of societal actors’ participation; (2) concrete, interim benefits for participating practitioners and organisations need to be continuously discussed; (3) promoting the ‘inter’, i.e., interdisciplinary and inter-city learning, can support transdisciplinarity and, ultimately, urban sustainability and long-term change. In this context, we found that design principles for transdisciplinarity have the potential to (4) mitigate project shortcomings, even when transdisciplinarity is not an explicit aim, and (5) address differences and allow new voices to be heard. We propose additional guiding questions to address shortcomings and inspire reflexivity in transdisciplinary projects.     

Contamination of bovine milk with DDT and HCH residues in relation to their usage in malaria control programme

The contribution of spraying DDT and HCH for malaria control towards the contamination of bovine milk was investigated by analysing milk samples collected from preselected localities sprayed with either DDT or HCH in the Punjab. A direct correlation was found between the amounts of residues of these insecticides in milk and their typical usage pattern for the mosquito control programme. It is considered that these results may have significant bearing on the regulatory control of DDT and HCH residues in milk.     

Toxicity assessment of wood preservatives

The article describes the influence of wood preservatives on water bioceonosis. The “battery” of toxicology tests was used to cover luminescent bacteria test, algae growth inhibition test, crustacean and fish lethal tests. The test samples used were pure wood preservative and water after the wood preservative leaching from wood sample. It was observed that the wood preservative is leaching from the wood sample in 10% within 1 month of exposition. Achieved results indicate the necessity of toxic assessment of wood preservative after wood element protection.     

Human-derived cell lines to study xenobiotic metabolism

In vitro systems make for rapid identification of xenobiotic effects and can be used to study cellular and subcellular toxicity mechanisms. In this report the metabolic competence of two human-derived cell lines, a hepatic (Hep G2) and a pulmonary one (A549) was tested. In the two cell systems the capability to activate Benzo[a]Pyrene through the cytochrome P450 enzyme system and to form reactive metabolites was analysed. ³H-BaP and the scintillation counting analysis were used to show the differences of the metabolic activity in Hep G2 and A549. A similar time course of ³H-BaP uptake was observed in the cell systems. Nevertheless, in the two cell lines the distribution of radioactive metabolites seemed to reflect a specific tissue response to toxicity.