Exploring the gap between pro-environmental beliefs and behaviour among students

In the new century, it has become clear that humans cannot manage the planet in a predatory way, causing much damage and destruction to the environment and threatening their own health. In order to safeguard the future of people and the planet, all human activities, production and consumption must be subject to the principles of sustainability. However, knowledge of these issues is not always matched by consumer behaviour. In this light the aim of the study was to assess beliefs and behaviour regarding sustainable consumption and their interrelationships in a group of students and in this context, the desire to increase knowledge about sustainable consumption and opinions on how to disseminate this knowledge were considered. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 146 voluntary students of the Faculty of Human Nutrition at Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Poland), using the CAWI survey method. The relationship between students’ beliefs and behaviour was characterized by varying strengths, but for all statements, more positive beliefs were accompanied by more positive behaviour. The strongest correlations regarded drinking tap water and not buying bottled water, and paying attention to the local/domestic origin of purchased products. The weakest correlations, but also significant, were found for buying seasonal fruit and vegetables to limit the purchase of imported food, not using plastic bags when shopping and separating recyclable waste. The desire to learn more about sustainable consumption differentiated students' beliefs and behaviour, but there were more differences in behaviour. Social media was the most accepted method of disseminating knowledge, followed by an optional subject, while compulsory training as part of studies had the least supporters. The study found that, on average, good pro-environmental knowledge was less likely to translate into sustainable consumption behaviour. It is therefore essential to undertake a range of awareness-raising and behavioural change motivation initiatives as part of a national campaign. Social media is a favourite communication tool for young people, but the problem of motivating young people to seek out and visit relevant websites remains.