Green-Schools Research Highlights

• Awareness levels about environmental issues among both types of students are very similar.
• When it comes to positive behaviour towards the environment, students within the awarded Green-Schools are less likely to drop less litter while being more likely to participate in local environment projects, conserve water, energy and think about the environment when making a purchase.
• Green-Schools students discuss the environment and associated issues in more settings, more often. Discussion within the classroom setting is particularly high among Green-Schools students. Furthermore, Green-Schools students generally encourage others to be environmentally friendly more than their Non-Green School counterparts. In essence the Green-Schools students are better environmental opinion leaders.
• Green-Schools students feel that environmental problems are an urgent problem whereas Non-Green-Schools students consider these to be more of a problem for the future.
• Green-School students identify teachers as the main source of information on the environment. Among Non-Green-Schools students television and radio is the main source of this information.
• Recycling levels of glass, paper/cardboard and aluminium along with levels of home composting are higher within the homes of Green-Schools students than within the homes of Non-Green-Schools students.
• 91% of students within Non-Green-Schools felt that they could do something about the state of the environment. This number was even higher among Green-Schools students at 96%.
• The main environmental concern indicated by both Green-Schools and Non-Green-Schools students was litter. This was followed among Green-Schools students by the lack of an environmentally friendly culture in Ireland and among Non-Green-Schools students by the lack of recycling facilities in Ireland.
• The current work has revealed a moderate positive relationship between behaviour towards the environment and opinion leadership (discussion and encouragement) among both Green-Schools and Non-Green-Schools students.
• The current study indicates that awareness levels do not directly impact behaviour towards the environment. For more information on Green-Schools Research contact:
  Dr. Michael John O' Mahony, Green-Schools Development Officer,
  An Taisce, 5A Swift’s Alley, Francis Street, Dublin 8.
  Tel: 01 400 2222 Fax: 01-4541802 Email: greenschools@antaisce.org