Consumer willingness to pay for plastic bags levy and willingness to accept eco-friendly alternatives in Botswana

Plastic bags, though commonly used for packaging of goods, are highly durable and non-biodegradable. Plastic bag litter serves as a negative environmental externality detrimental to animal health and natural beauty of the environment. In an effort to curtail the excessive use of plastic bags in Botswana, the government introduced a plastic levy targeted at consumers at retail points. This study uses primary data collected from 367 respondents randomly selected from six geospatially and purposively selected shopping malls to determine the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for continued plastic bag usage and their willingness to accept (WTA) to shift to eco-friendly alternatives. The results of the study revealed that open dumping and burning of plastic litter are more common in Maun than in Gaborone. It also showed that there is a significant relationship between the level of education and WTP. Further, there is a significant variation in income and education in respect to environmental awareness. The government should improve its efforts of sensitizing the public about the improper disposal of plastic bags.     

Using local knowledge to model asymmetric preference formation in willingness to pay for environmental services

This paper describes an approach to account for asymmetric preference formation in discrete choice models used for environmental valuation. The paper draws on data from a case study on preferences for environmental change resulting from a hypothetical rural development and conservation programme in Indonesia. Local knowledge on the current state of the environment was used to define an individual-specific status quo that consistently frames changes in a range of environmental services as gains or losses matching the perceptions of the local population living in the vicinity of a National Park. I estimated choice models that included separate parameters for increases and decreases in attribute levels for the environmental services and derived the indicators of local willingness to pay (WTP) corresponding to the bidirectional changes relative to the individual-specific status quo option. I found clear evidence of an asymmetric response to increase and decrease in attribute levels relative to the status quo. Ignoring asymmetric preference formation can therefore result in biased estimates of WTP indicators and welfare measures of change in cases where the outcomes of environmental programmes can plausibly result in both an increase and a decrease relative to a reference option. Compared to a symmetrical modelling approach, the combination of simultaneously accounting for asymmetric preference formation and preference heterogeneity in the choice model yielded additional insights that may be used to inform the development of local strategies towards biodiversity conservation.     

Building a model of commitment to the natural environment to predict ecological behavior and willingness to sacrifice

We examined the connection between individuals’ relationships with the natural environment and their environmental behaviors with a focus on commitment to the environment, defined as psychological attachment and long-term orientation to the natural world. Commitment is theorized to emerge from structural interdependence with the environment and to lead to pro-environmental behaviors. Close relationships research has identified three key antecedents to commitment (satisfaction, alternatives, and investments). We developed environment-specific measures of these constructs, and factor analysis verified three distinct factors. A path analysis revealed that satisfaction with the environment and investments in the environment, but not alternatives to the environment, predicted commitment to the environment. Moreover, commitment mediated the effects of satisfaction and investments on general ecological behavior and willingness to sacrifice for the environment. In regression analyses, commitment predicted general ecological behavior and willingness to sacrifice for the environment, even when controlling for ecological worldview, inclusion of nature in the self, connectedness to nature, and environmental identity. Individuals who are satisfied with and invested in the natural world are likely to be committed to the environment and act with the well-being of the environment in mind.     

A review on political factors influencing public support for urban environmental policy

Environmental quality is important to urban residents’ physical, social and psychological well-being. Governments have been formulating and implementing policies to mitigate environmental deterioration in cities. To effectively implement policies and achieve policy goals, gaining sufficient public support is an essential prerequisite; the policies would be in ruins and the government may also suffer from setbacks in other policy areas in the absence of public support. Therefore, to understand what contributes to public support is a crucial task for policymakers. Though current literature on socio-demographic and attitudinal/psychological factors provides fruitful accounts for policy support, a comprehensive examination of political determinants has yet to be established. In response to this, this review paper explores political factors that influence level of policy support based on existing literature. An integrated framework is proposed to explain policy support for urban environmental policy. This paper also discusses the possible directions of future research.     

Determination of lead in roadside dust in Lagos City by atomic absorption spectrophotometry

Roadside dust collected from roads with high, medium, and low vehicular traffic congestion in the city of Lagos have been analysed for lead by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The analyses have shown that between 2.35 and 7.25 mg Pb/g of dust is present in samples from roads with high traffic congestion.     

TCDD distribution in the Spring River,Southwestern Missouri

The waste management practices of a now defunct chemical company created several disposal sites containing 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) contaminated materials. A sampling survey of the Spring River, which drains the disposal sites, was conducted to determine if TCDD contamination of this river had occurred. TCDD was found in fish at concentrations of 0.8 to 55 ng/kg (whole fish) and 1.4 to 18. ng/kg (fillet). In addition, TCDD was present in the fish at least as far as 69 mi (111 km) downstream of the disposal sites. The detection limits were generally not sufficient to determine the sediment TCDD concentration in the river. TCDD was only found in the sediments immediately downstream of the former manufacturing facility, at 12 ng/kg.     

Geochemical associations of plutonium and γ-emitting radionuclides in caithness soils and marine particulates

Geochemical associations of plutonium and artificial γ-emitting radionuclides have been investigated in soils and marine particulate material from the immediate vicinity of the Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment (DNPDE) Caithness. The artificial radionuclides present in these materials arise from a variety of sources: world-wide nuclear weapons test fallout, direct deposition from atmospheric discharges at DNPD, and the return to land of activity previously discharged to sea (containing contributions from Dounreay and Sellafield). The levels, although sufficient to permit satisfactorily low counting errors, are of negligible radiological significance, the plutonium being more than 1000 times less than the NRPB Generalised Derived Limit (GDL) for well-mixed soil. Sequential leaching using selective extractants was performed to quantify the percentages of each nuclide in the following notional fractions: (a) readily available, (b) exchangeable and bound at specific adsorption sites, (c) chelated as insoluble organic complexes, (d) associated with sesquioxides, and (e) residual. Plutonium was found to be associated mainly with phases (c) and (d), while the γ-emitters present in the marine particulate material showed quite varied distributions. The degree of chemical fixation in the particulates follows the sequence ⁴⁰K¹³⁷Cs¹⁰⁶Ru¹²⁵Sb^239,240Pu¹⁴⁴Ce⁶⁰Co^154,155Eu.     

Urban Australians using recycled water for domestic non-potable use--an evaluation of the attributes price, saltiness, colour and odour using conjoint analysis

Recycled water use in urban areas is viewed as one part of the solution to Australia's water shortage. The effectiveness of policies designed to promote recycled water systems depends on the acceptance by the community of the price, colour, odour and salt content of the recycled water. In Australia and other countries, limited research has been conducted that investigates community attitudes to and willingness to pay for recycled water, especially in urban settings. Community acceptance of recycled water and the economic feasibility of such projects have not been widely evaluated, even though the long-term feasibility of many projects is dependent on such information. This paper examines the attitudes of an urban Australian community living at Mawson Lakes in South Australia, to using recycled water for non-potable domestic purposes. Conjoint analysis (CA) was used to evaluate participant's (n=136) preferences for various attributes of recycled water (colour, odour, salt content and price) for various uses (garden watering, toilet flushing and clothes washing). The analysis was used to estimate the respondent's willingness to pay (WTP) for quality increases for each of the attributes. Differences in WTP were investigated according to various demographic variables including income and education. Results indicate that for garden watering having 'low salt levels' is the most important attribute of recycled water, for clothes washing 'colourless' is the most important attribute, and for toilet flushing a 'low price' was the most important attribute. Respondents were willing to pay for increases in the quality of recycled water. The amount they were willing to pay varied depending on applied use and the attribute in question. Respondents were most willing to pay for an increase in quality of recycled water when used for clothes washing (willing to pay Australian dollars (A$) 0.07/cubic meter (m(3)) for removal of colour, A$0.065 per cubic meter for an increase in quality of recycled water from 'salty' to 'low salt,' and A$ 0.06/m(3) for removal of odour (1A$=0.75 US $ and 0.62 euro, August 24, 2005)). Segmentation of the price attribute by demographic sectors reveals that those in the higher income bracket, higher education sector, middle age group, and who are male, had a higher marginal valuation on price. The results of this study provide important information for recycled water retailers and water policy developers, helping achieve greater economic feasibility for future recycled water projects, to the satisfaction of the communities involved.     

Social and economic considerations in conserving wetlands of indo-gangetic plains: A case study of Kabartal wetland,India

The Kabartal wetland situated in the upper Indo-Gangetic flood plains in northern India is significant because of its hydrological and ecological services, and the socio-economic and cultural values that it represents. Despite being designated as a wildlife sanctuary, this wetland is under threat from anthropogenic pressures. As in the case of most wetlands, the reason is incomplete information on its ecological services and functions, breakdown of traditional management structures and the lack of appropriate and recognized property rights. Our study assesses the economic linkages between the Kabartal wetland and the local people living around it, through socio-economic surveys and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The major objective of the study was to determine the importance of this wetland to the local people and to give an indication of the distribution of the benefits among various stakeholders. The people in the region are poor, have low literacy levels and high dependence on Kabartal and more than 50% want that the wetland should be drained and the land used for agriculture. However, they are willing to participate in collaborative management initiatives with the state. The willingness of people to accept compensation, as an alternative to access to Kabartal wetland, regressed on various socio-economic and attitudinal parameters, gave an estimated mean value of US $27,500 per household over a period of 60 years. This value is a pointer of the total value of access to Kabartal wetland to the surrounding villagers and would be useful when decisions to compensate people for lost access to Kabartal are made.     

Acid deposition and watershed characteristics in relation to lake chemistry in northeastern Minnesota

The relationship between lake sensitivity to atmospheric acidic inputs and the neutralization capacity of watersheds is examined for 267 lakes in northeastern Minnesota. Three water chemistry/sensitivity measures (color, sulfate, and alkalinity) are correlated with variables representative of precipitation and sulfate inputs, hydrology, and the acid neutralization capacity of various watershed components. An ordinal scale for ranking bedrock and surficial deposit neutralization capacity is presented. The watershed variables found to account for the largest percentages of the variability in measured color, sulfate, and alkalinity levels are determined. Color is strongly related to the presence of peat or marsh and hydrologic renewal time, whereas sulfate is primarily related to atmospheric deposition, evaporative concentration, bedrock type, and the presence of coniferous forest. Variation in alkalinity is the most difficult of the water chemistry measures to explain; for headwater lakes, atmospheric sulfate input, water renewal time, the presence of deciduous forest, and the weatherability of underlying bedrock determine much of its variability. The results illustrate important averaging properties of watersheds from small headwater systems to large drainages and the difficulty in obtaining correlations for some water quality measures (e.g., alkalinity) when some variables, such as soils and land cover, are available only as large-area averages.