Postmodern consumers' consciousness of climate change and actions that could mitigate unsustainable

Addressing the fast-paced lifestyles that postmodern consumers lead, and the impact thereof on the natural environment, is high on the agenda in many political, economic, academic and social circles. Issues relating to the true impact of consumer behaviour on the environment, and the ultimate sustainability thereof for future generations, is becoming more and more important. Along with these debates, there is a growing interest in constructs such as pollution, waste, greenhouse gases, climate change and unsustainable consumption. Although the problem at hand and the relevant constructs have received much needed attention, it is not clear whether the South African public fully grasps the problem and/or whether they are conscious of why they need to change their current ingrained habits and unsustainable consumer behaviour. This study investigated postmodern consumers’ knowledge of climate change and their subsequent food consumption practices. A non-probability, convenience sampling approach was used to recruit a sample (n = 302) of both male and female consumers residing in the greater region of Tshwane who differed in terms of age, income, and socio-economic backgrounds. The research identified certain sustainable consumption practices and revealed deficits with regard to consumers’ knowledge of climate change. It was found that consumers who are willing to live more sustainably struggled to do so due to societal pressures, poor support, and a knowledge deficit in terms of skills in climate intervention. It is evident that current societal situations limit the likelihood of consumers making concerted efforts to reduce their overall impact on the environment. This is believed to be due to consumers experiencing a deficit of adequate knowledge, skills and/or access to possible avenues that could assist them in being more sustainable, which is often a result of poor community, municipal, and retail involvement.http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/famecsam2017Consumer Scienc

Preparing students for the future workplace : how online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic hone required transferable skills

PURPOSE : Skilled graduates delivered through vocational programmes are critical to ensure the future growth of emerging economies. This study explored students' reflections and experiences of online teaching and learning (T&L) during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. The study specifically focused on the transferable skills students acquired and their relevance to working in the local retail and hospitality industries. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : Following a case study research design, this study retrospectively delved into the multi-perspectives of students enrolled in vocational programmes. A total of 145 students completed reflective questions via a Qualtrics link regarding the topic in question. Student reflections were grouped and analysed for recurring themes using Atlas.ti. Through thematic analysis, two topical themes emerged related to transferable skills development and the usefulness of skills for future work. FINDINGS : The findings suggest that although students had to rely on online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, they still developed vital transferable skills, including communication, teamwork, organisational, self-management, flexibility, technology, metacognition and problem-solving. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : The findings offer valuable input into planning and developing student-centric online courses to facilitate the development of desired transferable skills. Findings could also guide best T&L practices regarding how education and training across digital platforms could be used to ensure that graduates are prepared to navigate the future complexities of working in ever-changing globalised industries. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : This study provides new insights into the evolution of T&L and how unexpected situations could provide an opportunity to hone desired skills and prepare students for employment and the 21st century workplace.https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0040-0912hj2024Consumer ScienceFood ScienceSDG-04:Quality Educatio

Cost-Effectiveness of New Cardiac and Vascular Rehabilitation Strategies for Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Objective: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) often hinders the cardiac rehabilitation program. The aim of this study was evaluating the relative cost-effectiveness of new rehabilitation strategies which include the diagnosis and treatment of PAD in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. Data Sources: Best-available evidence was retrieved from literature and combined with primary data from 231 patients. Methods: We developed a Markov decision model to compare the following treatment strategies: 1. cardiac rehabilitation only; 2. ankle-brachial index (ABI) if cardiac rehabilitation fails followed by diagnostic work-up and revascularization for PAD if needed; 3. ABI prior to cardiac rehabilitation followed by diagnostic work-up and revascularization for PAD if needed. Quality-adjusted-life years (QALYs), life-time costs (US $), incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER), and gain in net health benefits (NHB) in QALY equivalents were calculated. A threshold willingness-to-pay of$75 000 was used. Results: ABI if cardiac rehabilitation fails was the most favorable strategy with an ICER of $44 251 per QALY gained and an incremental NHB compared to cardiac rehabilitation only of 0.03 QALYs (95$75 000/QALY. After sensitivity analysis, a combined cardiac and vascular rehabilitation program increased the success rate and would dominate the other two strategies with total lifetime costs of $30 246 a quality-adjusted life expectancy of 3.84 years, and an incremental NHB of 0.06 QALYs (95%CI:−0.24, 0.46) compared to current practice. The results were robust for other different input parameters. Conclusion: ABI measurement if cardiac rehabilitation fails followed by a diagnostic work-up and revascularization for PAD if needed are potentially cost-effective compared to cardiac rehabilitation only

Female consumers' apparel disposal behaviour in the South African emerging market context

The apparel supply chain’s contribution toward pollution, natural resource depletion and excessive waste is cause for much concern. Sustainable strategies should form part of the entire apparel life cycle, but also more specifically the disposal stage, during which consumers should be encouraged to adopt waste reduction behaviours such as donating, recycling and/or reselling unwanted apparel. To date, this topic has received limited attention in developing countries such as South Africa, where disadvantaged communities are most adversely affected by environmental deterioration and overflowing landfills. This study thus aimed to explore and describe female consumers’ intent to dispose of apparel in a more sustainable manner within the local South African context. The non-probable sampling procedure purposively focused on females, because they tend to make the primary decisions regarding households’ unwanted apparel. A structured, self-administered web-based questionnaire was developed. Scale items were derived from prior empirical research, yet adapted and pre-tested to comply with local conditions. Responses were measured on a five point Likert type scale. The eventual sample consisted of 315 females between the ages of 18 and 65 years, who resided in the geographical scope of Gauteng, South Africa. Most respondents had some form of tertiary education (65%) and belonged to middle-income levels (54%). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to reveal three factors, namely respondents’ intent to donate (M = 4.36), resell (M = 3.84) and reuse/recycle apparel (M = 4.05). The findings provide insight pertaining to respondents’ willingness to donate, perhaps more so than their inclination to resell or reuse unwanted apparel, due to various contextual circumstances. This may offer a basis for the development of waste reduction campaigns and intervention strategies in the apparel domain and direct future investigation in other emerging markets to establish consumers willingness to engage in sustainable apparel disposal behaviour.http://www.witpress.com/transactions/view/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environmentpm2020Consumer ScienceFood Scienc

Wettability after Artificial and Natural Weathering of Polyethylene Terephthalate

The weathering of plastics is always accompanied by a change in surface properties, especially wettability in the case of water. For plastics weathering in an aquatic environment, wettability plays an important role in transport, sedimentation, and dispersion in the water body. To quantify wettability, contact angle measurement is a fast and convenient method that requires little experimental effort. This technique was used with the aim of systematically discussing how measured values of contact angles can contribute to the assessment of the weathering state. Using polyethylene terephthalate (PET), wetting was analyzed on samples from artificial weathering and from controlled, natural weathering. Surface analytical methods were used (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet and visible light spectroscopy (UV/VIS)) to analyze the parameters affecting the contact angle: (i) chemical bond breaking and formation, (ii) eco-corona formation and biofilm growth, and (iii) change in surface structure and roughness. It was found that wettability with water increased during weathering in all cases. The reasons for this varied and depended on the method of weathering. The improved wettability during artificial weathering was due to changes in the polymer surface chemistry. In natural weathering, however, the formation of eco-corona and biofilm was responsible for the changes

Weathering Plastics as a Planetary Boundary Threat: Exposure, Fate, and Hazards

publishedVersio

Apparel disposal in the South African emerging market context : exploring female consumers’ motivation and intent to donate post-consumer textile waste

Globally, textile waste is cause for much concern with attention devoted toward waste reduction strategies throughout the value chain, but also more specifically at the end-of-life, when consumers are urged to donate, recycle or resell unwanted apparel. Studies in developed countries have provided much insight surrounding consumers’ apparel disposal, but the topic remains understudied in emerging economies. Using a combination of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Norm Activation Theory (NAT), this study explores female consumers’ motivation and intention to sustainably dispose of post-consumer textile waste in the South African emerging market context. Adopting a non-probable purposive sampling procedure, 315 females between 18 and 65 years were recruited, as they often fulfill decisive roles in the disposal of unwanted apparel. Scale items derived from prior research were adapted and included in a structured, self-administered web-based questionnaire to collect data. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed eight factors, namely awareness of environmental consequences, social norms, personal norms, perceived behavioral control, attitudes as well as their intent to donate, resell and reuse/ recycle apparel. Focusing on donation as respondents’ preferred method of disposal, a structural equation model was devised that reveals the underlying motivational factors that contribute to their willingness to donate. The findings offer a meaningful contribution toward current debates surrounding the utility of TPB and NAT to predict intent. The study also delivers a much-needed African perspective on the underpinnings of consumers’ apparel donation, which may serve as a basis for waste reduction strategies and direct future investigation.The National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec2023-04-04hj2023Consumer ScienceFood Scienc

Weathering Plastics as a Planetary Boundary Threat: Exposure, Fate, and Hazards

We described in 2017 how weathering plastic litter in the marine environment fulfils two of three criteria to impose a planetary boundary threat related to “chemical pollution and the release of novel entities”: (1) planetary-scale exposure, which (2) is not readily reversible. Whether marine plastics meet the third criterion, (3) eliciting a disruptive impact on vital earth system processes, was uncertain. Since then, several important discoveries have been made to motivate a re-evaluation. A key issue is if weathering macroplastics, microplastics, nanoplastics, and their leachates have an inherently higher potential to elicit adverse effects than natural particles of the same size. We summarize novel findings related to weathering plastic in the context of the planetary boundary threat criteria that demonstrate (1) increasing exposure, (2) fate processes leading to poorly reversible pollution, and (3) (eco)toxicological hazards and their thresholds. We provide evidence that the third criterion could be fulfilled for weathering plastics in sensitive environments and therefore conclude that weathering plastics pose a planetary boundary threat. We suggest future research priorities to better understand (eco)toxicological hazards modulated by increasing exposure and continuous weathering processes, to better parametrize the planetary boundary threshold for plastic pollution

Weathering Plastics as a Planetary Boundary Threat: Exposure, Fate, and Hazards

We described in 2017 how weathering plastic litter in the marine environment fulfils two of three criteria to impose a planetary boundary threat related to “chemical pollution and the release of novel entities”: (1) planetary-scale exposure, which (2) is not readily reversible. Whether marine plastics meet the third criterion, (3) eliciting a disruptive impact on vital earth system processes, was uncertain. Since then, several important discoveries have been made to motivate a re-evaluation. A key issue is if weathering macroplastics, microplastics, nanoplastics, and their leachates have an inherently higher potential to elicit adverse effects than natural particles of the same size. We summarize novel findings related to weathering plastic in the context of the planetary boundary threat criteria that demonstrate (1) increasing exposure, (2) fate processes leading to poorly reversible pollution, and (3) (eco)toxicological hazards and their thresholds. We provide evidence that the third criterion could be fulfilled for weathering plastics in sensitive environments and therefore conclude that weathering plastics pose a planetary boundary threat. We suggest future research priorities to better understand (eco)toxicological hazards modulated by increasing exposure and continuous weathering processes, to better parametrize the planetary boundary threshold for plastic pollution