key: cord-1030371-ari43ia8 authors: Choi, E.-H.; Lee, H.; Kang, M.-J.; Nam, I.; Moon, H.-K.; Sung, J.-W.; Eu, J.-Y.; Lee, H.-B. title: Factors affecting zero-waste behaviors: Focusing on the health effects of microplastics date: 2022-03-08 journal: nan DOI: 10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 sha: 2ae904f0f3fa0584d485753c2d002afc2eb556ec doc_id: 1030371 cord_uid: ari43ia8 Microplastics harm human health. Therefore, the present study assessed the knowledge and attitude of university students towards reducing microplastic use and examined their zero-waste behaviors. Our results lay the foundation for program development aimed at promoting zero-waste activities. The study was conducted from August 20, 2021, to September 10, 2021, including students at a university in G metropolitan city. Questions were developed to verify how the use of disposables and the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors related to zero-waste were affected after the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was conducted with 197 students, and the data of 196 students were analyzed. Family type ({beta}=0.146, p=0.042) and usage of disposables ({beta}=0.158, p=0.049) were the factors affecting zero-waste behavior in Model 1. In Model 2, which included the subcategory of zero-waste knowledge, the health effects of microplastics ({beta}=0.197, p=0.008) and environmental preservation ({beta}=0.236, p=0.001) were significant factors. In Model 3, which included the subcategory of zero-waste attitude, the health effects of microplastics ({beta}=0.149, p=0.016), use of eco-friendly products ({beta}=0.342, p<0.001), and environmental preservation ({beta}=0.317, p<.001) were significant factors. Therefore, additional studies and education on the health effects of microplastics are warranted, and suitable alternatives for disposables must be developed. Introduction 87 dropout rate, the survey was conducted on 197 subjects, and the data of 196 subjects were 88 analyzed. 89 Data were collected following the approval of the Institutional Bioethics Committee of E 90 University (EU21-061). Online surveys were conducted after the study participants were 91 informed of the purpose of the study, and they provided consent for data collection. Study tools 93 General characteristics 94 As general characteristics of the study subjects, age, sex, school year, major, and family type 95 were assessed. The majors were categorized as health and medicine, natural science and 96 engineering, education, humanity and social science, and others. The family types were classified 97 as single-member households and two or more-member households. Change in the usage of disposables after COVID-19 outbreak 99 To verify the change in the usage of disposables after COVID-19 outbreak, the following two 100 questions were asked: 'After COVID-19 outbreak, do you experience a change in the usage of 101 delivery apps?' and 'After COVID-19 outbreak, do you experience a change in usage of parcel 102 delivery service?' two answers were provided, 'no change' and 'increase'. Zero-waste knowledge focusing on microplastics 104 Questions related to the knowledge of zero waste focusing on microplastics were developed by 105 reviewing the literature and searching social networking sites (SNS), the Internet, and newspaper . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 doi: medRxiv preprint and health impact of microplastics were scored from 0 to 4. Cronbach's alpha for this tool was 126 0.745. Zero-waste attitude . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 doi: medRxiv preprint 128 Questions related to zero-waste attitudes were developed by reviewing the literature and 129 searching SNS, the Internet, and newspaper articles. Three professionals and five zero-waste 130 executors verified the suitability of the questions. The attitude was classified into five categories: eco-friendly production by companies, 132 purchasing eco-friendly products, using eco-friendly products, separating disposables, and 133 environmental campaigning. There were two questions regarding eco-friendly production by 134 companies: "It is important to make products from materials that can be recycled" and "a 135 company should make eco-friendly products". There were four questions on purchasing eco-136 friendly products: "I think the things that I do not need are trash, I think the more eco-friendly 137 products are, the better, carrying something like a tumbler is inconvenient, and It is important to 138 use less disposable packaging. There were three questions on using eco-friendly products: "It is boring to use purchased 140 products for a long time," "It is convenient to use straws, wooden chopsticks, and plastic bags," 141 and "It is convenient to use disposable wet wipes." There were five questions on separating 142 disposables: "eventually, it is beneficial for me to reduce the usage of disposable containers", 143 "the problem of disposable waste does not directly affect me", "it is meaningless to make an 144 effort to reduce the usage of disposables", and "I feel uncomfortable generating plastic waste". There were two questions on environmental campaigning: "I closely follow environmental 146 campaigns" and "I have thought about participating in an environmental campaign". Each question was answered based on a 5-point Likert scale, with "strongly disagree" assigned 148 one point and "strongly agree" assigned five points. Among the questions, negative responses for 149 zero waste were processed as reverse questions. Average scores for each category are presented. A higher score indicated a positive attitude. Cronbach's alpha for this tool was 0.731. . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) Questions related to zero-waste behavior were developed by reviewing the literature and 153 searching for SNS, the Internet, and newspaper articles. Three professionals and five zero-waste 154 executors verified the suitability of questions. Behavior was classified into four categories: purchasing eco-friendly products, using eco-156 friendly products, separating disposables, and environmental campaigns. There were five 157 questions on purchasing eco-friendly products: "I check the recycle mark before buying 158 something", "I reduce waste by only purchasing what I need", "I purchase products using as less 159 disposable packaging as possible", "I use eco-friendly products if it is possible", and "if possible, 160 I select no disposable check box when I order delivery food". There were four questions on using 161 eco-friendly products: "I keep using a product once I purchase it, I reuse daily necessities with 162 containers by refilling them, I try not to use disposable wet wipes, and "I do not use disposables 163 when I have reusable dishware". There were four questions on separating and sending out 164 disposables: "I actively separate and send out food and plastics, I try not to use delivery apps and 165 parcel delivery services as much as possible because they generate much disposable waste, I 166 remove the plastic packaging of PET bottles before taking them out to prevent generating mixed 167 waste, and "I empty and clean recyclable plastic items before taking them out". There were two 168 questions on environmental campaigns: "I participate in empty bottle collection and tumbler 169 discount" and "I reduce disposable waste by using reusable shopping bags". Each question was answered based on a 5-point Likert scale, with "strongly disagree" assigned 171 one point and "strongly agree" assigned five points. Among the questions, negative responses for . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 doi: medRxiv preprint 172 zero waste were processed as reverse questions. Average scores for each category are presented. Higher scores indicated pro-zero-waste behavior. Cronbach's alpha for this tool was 0.767. General characteristics of the study subjects 188 The general characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 1 fourth-or higher-year students. Regarding major, 45 (35.2%) participants studied health and . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted Regarding zero-waste knowledge, the score for the MP generation process was 3.1/5 points and 204 that for environmental preservation was 2.6/4 points. The score for the health effects of 205 microplastics was 3.1/6. The average score for this category was 8.8/15. Regarding zero-waste attitude, the score for eco-friendly production by companies was 4.4/5 207 points, that for purchasing eco-friendly products was 3.7/5 points, that for using eco-friendly 208 products was 2.8/5 points, that for separating disposables was 4.1/5 points, and that for 209 environmental campaigning was 3.6/5 points. The average score for each category was 3.7/5. Regarding zero-waste behavior, the score for purchasing eco-friendly products was 3.5/5 points, 211 that for using eco-friendly products was 3.7/5 points, that for separating disposables scored 4.0/5 212 points, and that for environmental campaigning was 3.6/5 points. The average score for the 213 category was 3.7/5 points (Table 2) . . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) Eco-friendly production of companies 4.4 ± 0.6 1-5 Purchasing eco-friendly products 3.7 ± 0.5 1-5 Using eco-friendly products 2.8 ± 0.6 1-5 Separating disposables 4.1 ± 0.6 1-5 Environmental campaigns 3.6 ± 0.8 1-5 Total attitude (mean ± SD) 3.7 ± 0.4 1-5 Purchasing eco-friendly products 3.5 ± 0.6 1-5 Using eco-friendly products 3.7 ± 0.5 1-5 Separating disposables 4.0 ± 0.6 1-5 Environmental campaigns 3.6 ± 0.9 1-5 Total behavior (mean ± SD) 3.7 ± 0. (Table 3) . . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 doi: medRxiv preprint The present study was undertaken to lay a foundation for program development aimed at 249 improving zero-waste behavior by identifying the effects of zero-waste knowledge and attitude. 250 Overall, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the usage of disposables amongst university students 251 has increased. In our analysis, score for the health effects of microplastics was the lowest, at 3.1/6 points, in the . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 8, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.04.22271923 doi: medRxiv preprint In the category of zero-waste attitude, eco-friendly production of companies achieved the highest 272 scores, whilst the usage of eco-friendly products achieved the lowest scores. The usage of eco-273 friendly products includes using the purchased products for a long time, convenience of using 274 disposables, and convenience of cleaning with disposable wet wipes. According to a study on 275 environmental problems by IPSOS [34], 91% of Korean respondents answered that there was 276 concern regarding packaging waste and using disposables that cause environmental pollution. In 277 terms of individual behavior to reduce unrecyclable packing materials, 27% of respondents 278 answered that they tried to minimize their use by overcoming the habit of buying disposables, 279 which was a low percentage, consistent with the results of the present study. In another study, respondents answered that they occasionally use disposables because they are Based on our results, the increased usage of disposables, delivery apps, and parcel delivery 307 services due to COVID-19 did not affect zero-waste behavior. According to a previous study, the 308 increased usage of delivery food due to COVID-19 has altered eating habits [40] . Students must 309 use delivery apps and disposable containers to avoid contracting COVID-19; this increase is 310 expected to be temporary during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to the Institute There were some limitations in the present study. First, the study subjects were limited to a 316 particular age group rather than all age groups. University students are intelligent, and other . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or 332 preparation of the manuscript. CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. 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