Assessing environmental profiles: An analysis of water consumption and waste recycling habits

Individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors are determinant for long-term sustainability. We assessed profiles of an exclusive sample of 1351 households in the municipality of Gijón, Spain, in terms of their water consumption and recycling patterns using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). This methodology allows for households to be classified into groups without imposing any ad hoc criteria and provides information on the determinants of belonging to each group. The database includes the water consumption, self-reported environmental attitudes, and socioeconomic characteristics of the households. The results showed four significant household groups, where smaller families located in urban areas containing at least one homemaker and equipped with water efficient devices are more likely to present the best pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors related to water use and recycling habits. Furthermore, we found that providing better information in terms of water billing and the environmental impact of human behavior also fosters environmentally friendly habits

El precio del agua en el sector turístico: claves para la sostenibilidad

La Agenda de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas (UN, 2015), recoge en su objetivo número 6 la necesidad de garantizar la disponibilidad y saneamiento del agua, así como su gestión sostenible y eficiente. La sostenibilidad en el uso del agua es necesaria, especialmente en áreas con importante estrés hídrico, tal como es el caso de España. Las actividades turísticas son parte de ese complejo entramado de usuarios del agua que ejercen presiones sobre el recurso [1], y que, por lo tanto, requieren de políticas específicas que incentiven un consumo racional del mismo