Household sustainable behavior evaluation and its relationship with socioeconomic indicators in the city of Guayaquil

Abstract

In order to deal with global warming and climate change through the smart management of natural resources and waste elimination for the conservation of the environment, this study aims to evaluate the behavior of household`s residents towards electricity and water consumption and solid waste generation (HSW). The paper also intends to correlate this behavior with socioeconomic indicators, such as: household size, level of education, income generation, labor force and social status. This study relied on 2593 random stratified questionnaires who live in the city of Guayaquil. The findings revealed that different socioeconomic groups houses demonstrate the same tendency in the sustainable consumption attitudes of electricity of water. Subsequently, the findings also ascertained differences are found in the possession of ecological devices. HSEG possess more these kinds of devices than LSEG. Therefore, government strategies should be set in motion to make households more aware of the level of pollution they produce and the inefficacy of their consumption of resources.