Energy Saving: Views and Attitudes among Primary School Students and Their Parents

• Main Authors: Ioanna Zerinou, Evangelia Karasmanaki, Konstantinos Ioannou, Veronika Andrea, Georgios Tsantopoulos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: primary education; attitudes to renewable energy sources; sustainable education; environmental awareness and attitudes; students’ and parents’ environmental behavior; citizenship
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/15/6206

The ongoing economic development and prosperity have led not only to the exhaustion of the planet’s natural resources but also to numerous environmental problems. To address these problems, it is necessary that more individuals adopt energy saving practices while promoting alternative energy sources. In other words, future generations ought to adopt behaviors that will involve the sustainable management of energy. To that end, sustainable education can create citizens who not only have knowledge and awareness about the environment and the severe environmental issues but are also willing to take action to address these issues. Hence, the aim of the present study is to investigate the environmental attitudes and behaviors among primary school students and their parents in the municipality of Orestiada, in Greece. To achieve this objective, a structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used. Results showed that both students and parents had adequate levels of environmental awareness while their beliefs were translated into actual behaviors as they had adopted, to a significant extent, energy saving habits and practices.