The complex relationship between carbon literacy and pro-environmental actions among engineering students

Sherry Ann Ram; Heather L MacLean; Deborah Tihanyi; Liam Hannah; I Daniel Posen

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20634

The complex relationship between carbon literacy and pro-environmental actions among engineering students

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 4;9(11):e20634. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20634. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Sherry Ann Ram¹, Heather L MacLean^{1

2

3}, Deborah Tihanyi^{2

4}, Liam Hannah⁵, I Daniel Posen^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ University of Toronto, Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, 35 St George St, Toronto, ON, M8Z 3Y6, Canada.
² University of Toronto, Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP), 55 St. George Street, Room 723, Toronto, ON, M5S 0C9, Canada.
³ University of Toronto, School of the Environment, 1016V-33 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON, M5S3E8, Canada.
⁴ University of Toronto, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, 5 King's College Road Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G8, Canada.
⁵ University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V6, Canada.

Abstract

Lifestyle choices and consumption play a large role in contributing to per capita greenhouse gas emissions. Certain activities, like fossil fuel ground transportation, long-haul flights, diets with animal products and residential heating and cooling contribute significantly to per capita emissions. There is uncertainty around whether literacy about these actions encourages individuals to act pro-environmentally to reduce personal carbon footprints or to prioritize the most effective actions. This study investigated the relationship between carbon literacy and pro-environmental actions performed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among undergraduate engineering students at the University of Toronto. The pro-environmental actions by the participants produced an average carbon footprint of 4.8 tCO₂ (within the subset of actions included in the survey) which was lower than the average for residents each of Toronto, Ontario, and Canada overall but still higher than the global target of ∼2.8 tCO₂e. The carbon literacy by participants was best for high impact actions like ground transportation and dietary choices but less so for air travel and there was mixed awareness for the moderate and low impact actions. For high impact actions and many moderate and low impact actions, participants who thought the action was high impact (even if incorrect) had lower carbon footprints related to the associated activity than those who thought the action was moderate or low impact. The overall relationship between pro-environmental action and carbon literacy was weak. It showed that for high impact actions, there is a slight negative correlation between carbon literacy and personal carbon footprint whereas for moderate and low impact actions, there is a positive correlation.

Keywords: Carbon literacy; Climate change mitigation; Environmental knowledge; Personal carbon footprint; Pro-environmental behavior; Sustainable consumption.