IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i3p737-d135193.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socio-Cultural Impact of Energy Saving: Studying the Behaviour of Elementary School Students in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Sideri Lefkeli

    (Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece)

  • Evangelos Manolas

    (Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece)

  • Konstantinos Ioannou

    (Hellenic Agricultural Organization “DEMETER”, Forest Research Institute, Vasilika, 57006 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Georgios Tsantopoulos

    (Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200 Orestiada, Greece)

Abstract

Education makes it possible for students to become familiar with the rational management of energy as well as learn to implement energy saving practices in their everyday life. The study of certain student characteristics helps in the direction of applying strategies of behavioural change. The aim of this research is to record the knowledge and attitudes of elementary school students in the Prefecture of Evros with regard to energy saving. The collection of research data was done through the use of a structured and anonymous questionnaire with closed questions. The method used for the collection of the research data was cluster sampling. This involved 17 elementary schools of the continental part of the prefecture. 612 questionnaires were completed by students of the 5th and 6th grade of these schools. The evaluation of the research data showed that 69.6% of the students think that the most appropriate house temperature is 20°C with 79.1% of the students keeping the thermostat switched off while the house is aired. With regard to the use of TV, stereo, play station and PC the research showed that 93.8% of the students switch off the above devices when these are not in use. In parallel, 86.6% of the respondents usually or always switch off the lights when coming out of a room and 46.2% of the students use energy saving bulbs. Also, 93% of the students recycle because they believe that doing so contributes to the protection of the environment while 41% always chooses to walk to school. With regard to the significance of reasons concerning energy saving 85.9% thinks that energy saving is important to very important for reducing environmental pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Sideri Lefkeli & Evangelos Manolas & Konstantinos Ioannou & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2018. "Socio-Cultural Impact of Energy Saving: Studying the Behaviour of Elementary School Students in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:737-:d:135193
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/737/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/737/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Castleberry, Becca & Gliedt, Travis & Greene, J. Scott, 2016. "Assessing drivers and barriers of energy-saving measures in Oklahoma’s public schools," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 216-228.
    2. Çelikler, Dilek & Aksan, Zeynep, 2016. "The development of an attitude scale to assess the attitudes of high school students towards renewable energy sources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1092-1098.
    3. Zyadin, Anas & Puhakka, Antero & Ahponen, Pirkkoliisa & Cronberg, Tarja & Pelkonen, Paavo, 2012. "School students' knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward renewable energy in Jordan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 78-85.
    4. Lee, Lung-Sheng & Lee, Yi-Fang & Altschuld, James W. & Pan, Ying-Ju, 2015. "Energy literacy: Evaluating knowledge, affect, and behavior of students in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 98-106.
    5. Hilary Boudet & Nicole M. Ardoin & June Flora & K. Carrie Armel & Manisha Desai & Thomas N. Robinson, 2016. "Effects of a behaviour change intervention for Girl Scouts on child and parent energy-saving behaviours," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(8), pages 1-10, August.
    6. Çelikler, Dilek & Aksan, Zeynep, 2015. "The opinions of secondary school students in Turkey regarding renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 649-653.
    7. Kandpal, Tara C. & Broman, Lars, 2014. "Renewable energy education: A global status review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 300-324.
    8. KIlInç, Ahmet & Stanisstreet, Martin & Boyes, Edward, 2009. "Incentives and disincentives for using renewable energy: Turkish students' ideas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 1089-1095, June.
    9. Karatayev, Marat & Clarke, Michèle L., 2016. "A review of current energy systems and green energy potential in Kazakhstan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 491-504.
    10. Dincer, Ibrahim, 2000. "Renewable energy and sustainable development: a crucial review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 157-175, June.
    11. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    12. Ntona, Eirini & Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Kyriakopoulos, Grigorios L., 2015. "Energy saving: Views and attitudes of students in secondary education," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-15.
    13. Dias, Rubens A. & Mattos, Cristiano R. & P. Balestieri, Jose A., 2006. "The limits of human development and the use of energy and natural resources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1026-1031, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Vasilios Palios & Miltiadis Chalikias, 2018. "Environmental Behavior of Secondary Education Students: A Case Study at Central Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, May.
    2. Auguste K. Kouakou & Nibontenin Soro, 2023. "Drivers of Energy Efficiency in West African Countries," Journal of Sustainable Development, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(5), pages 1-39, May.
    3. Tiago Sequeira & Marcelo Santos, 2018. "Education and Energy Intensity: Simple Economic Modelling and Preliminary Empirical Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Roberto Araya & Pedro Collanqui, 2021. "Are Cross-Border Classes Feasible for Students to Collaborate in the Analysis of Energy Efficiency Strategies for Socioeconomic Development While Keeping CO 2 Concentration Controlled?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Konstantinos Ioannou, 2019. "Education, Communication and Decision-Making on Renewable and Sustainable Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-4, September.
    6. Wan Nur Hafizah Wan Hussain & Lilia Halim & Mee Yeang Chan & Norshariani Abd Rahman, 2021. "Predicting Energy-Saving Behaviour Based on Environmental Values: An Analysis of School Children’s Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-14, July.
    7. Ioanna Zerinou & Evangelia Karasmanaki & Konstantinos Ioannou & Veronika Andrea & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2020. "Energy Saving: Views and Attitudes among Primary School Students and Their Parents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-23, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ioanna Zerinou & Evangelia Karasmanaki & Konstantinos Ioannou & Veronika Andrea & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2020. "Energy Saving: Views and Attitudes among Primary School Students and Their Parents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Halder, Pradipta & Pietarinen, Janne & Havu-Nuutinen, Sari & Pöllänen, Sinikka & Pelkonen, Paavo, 2016. "The Theory of Planned Behavior model and students' intentions to use bioenergy: A cross-cultural perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 627-635.
    3. Keramitsoglou, Kiriaki M., 2016. "Exploring adolescents’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards Renewable Energy Sources: A colour choice approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1159-1169.
    4. Ntona, Eirini & Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Kyriakopoulos, Grigorios L., 2015. "Energy saving: Views and attitudes of students in secondary education," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-15.
    5. Lindgren, Samantha, 2024. "Sociocultural determinants of electric cooking in rural Namibia: Recommendations for youth and educational approaches to implementation strategy and policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    6. Tampakis, Stilianos & Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Tsantopoulos, Georgios & Rerras, Ioannis, 2017. "Citizens’ views on electricity use, savings and production from renewable energy sources: A case study from a Greek island," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 39-49.
    7. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Vasilios Palios & Miltiadis Chalikias, 2018. "Environmental Behavior of Secondary Education Students: A Case Study at Central Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, May.
    8. Lindgren, Samantha, 2021. "Cookstove implementation and Education for Sustainable Development: A review of the field and proposed research agenda," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    9. Buldur, Serkan & Bursal, Murat & Yalcin Erik, Nazan & Yucel, Eren, 2020. "The impact of an outdoor education project on middle school students’ perceptions and awareness of the renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Dias, Rubens Alves & Rios de Paula, Marília & Silva Rocha Rizol, Paloma Maria & Matelli, José Alexandre & Rodrigues de Mattos, Cristiano & Perrella Balestieri, José Antonio, 2021. "Energy education: Reflections over the last fifteen years," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    11. Baharoon, Dhyia Aidroos & Rahman, Hasimah Abdul & Fadhl, Saeed Obaid, 2016. "Publics׳ knowledge, attitudes and behavioral toward the use of solar energy in Yemen power sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 498-515.
    12. Van Dael, Miet & Lizin, Sebastien & Swinnen, Gilbert & Van Passel, Steven, 2017. "Young people’s acceptance of bioenergy and the influence of attitude strength on information provision," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 417-430.
    13. Karytsas, Spyridon & Theodoropoulou, Helen, 2014. "Socioeconomic and demographic factors that influence publics' awareness on the different forms of renewable energy sources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 480-485.
    14. Ajlan, Abdullah & Tan, Chee Wei & Abdilahi, Abdirahman Mohamed, 2017. "Assessment of environmental and economic perspectives for renewable-based hybrid power system in Yemen," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 559-570.
    15. Carbajo, Ruth & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2018. "Renewable energy research and technologies through responsible research and innovation looking glass: Reflexions, theoretical approaches and contemporary discourses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 792-808.
    16. Kandpal, Tara C. & Broman, Lars, 2014. "Renewable energy education: A global status review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 300-324.
    17. Lee, Lung-Sheng & Lee, Yi-Fang & Wu, Ming-Jiuan & Pan, Ying-Ju, 2019. "A study of energy literacy among nursing students to examine implications on energy conservation efforts in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Baharoon, Dhyia Aidroos & Rahman, Hasimah Abdul & Fadhl, Saeed Obaid, 2016. "Personal and psychological factors affecting the successful development of solar energy use in Yemen power sector: A case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 516-535.
    19. Çakirlar Altuntaş, Esra & Turan, Salih Levent, 2018. "Awareness of secondary school students about renewable energy sources∗," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(PA), pages 741-748.
    20. Zoltán Szakály & Péter Balogh & Enikő Kontor & Zoltán Gabnai & Attila Bai, 2020. "Attitude toward and Awareness of Renewable Energy Sources: Hungarian Experience and Special Features," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-25, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:737-:d:135193. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.