University of Central Florida
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

"Of the following, which did you know was an example of sustainable practices before taking this survey? (Please select all that apply..."

"True or false... “Cradle to grave” refers to assessing a product's lifecycle from creation to disposal."

"True or false... The Urban Heat Island Effect is the increase in the number of cities that cut off exports and imports during hot summer months."

Between February 2016 and June 2016, more than 2,000 University of Central Florida (UCF) students were surveyed about their attitudes, practices, and knowledge about environmental sustainability topics and the university’s sustainability initiatives. Students were interviewed at various high traffic, main campus locations. Surveys were conducted as face-to-face, computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) by trained, undergraduate volunteer researchers.

Students were interviewed at various high traffic, main campus locations. Participants were approached using an “every Nth person” systematic random sampling technique. Among the 2,174 respondents that agreed to participate, 78 were excluded for not being a UCF student and 23 were excluded as they were under eighteen years old, resulting in a total sample size of 2,073 respondents.

Almost 90% of the participants considered recycling to be very important (48%) or important (41%). Similarly, approximately 85% of the sample considered minimizing waste sent to the landfill (such as reusable bags or drink containers) to be very important (46%) or important (39%). Approximately three-quarters of the sample believed it was very important (39%) or important (36%) to conserve water, such as taking shorter showers. Next, approximately 70% considered minimizing emissions from transportation (riding the shuttle or SunRail, carpooling, etc.) to be very important (36%) or important (35%). Similarly, 70% of the students in this sample believed it was very important (25%) or important (45%) to purchase eco-friendly products. Conserving energy, such as powering down electronic devices not in use for more than fifteen minutes or keeping thermostats between 74-78 degrees, was also viewed as very important (38%) or important (30%) by more than two-thirds of the sample. Lastly, approximately 57% of the participants believed that choosing food based on its impact, including locally sourced and organic foods, was very important (22%) or important (35%).

The next most common sustainability practice was conserving energy, with approximately 66% of the participants indicating that they always (29%) or usually (36%) conserve energy, such as powering down electronic devices, not in use or keeping thermostats between 74-78 degrees. Similarly, almost 60% of the sample indicate that they minimize waste sent to the landfill by using reusable bags or drink containers always (19%) or usually (40%). Approximately 55% indicate that they always (21%) or usually (33%) conserve water, such as taking shorter showers. Slightly less than half of the sample (49%) stated that they always (16%) or usually (34%) limit their purchases of single use or disposable items. Students were less likely to use alternative transportation, such as carpooling or using shuttles or SunRail, with 40% of the participants indicating they do this always (16%) or usually (24%). Lastly, students in this sample were the least likely choose food based on its impact with only 31% indicating that they do this always (10%) or usually (21%). Instead, students were more likely to indicate that they sometimes choose food based on its impact (36%).

Students were also asked about their level of interest in environmental sustainability. Most participants indicated they had some interest in sustainability (64%). An additional 18% considered themselves passionate about sustainability. Approximately 12% of the students were neutral, and only 6% indicated they had little or no interest in sustainability.

The second section of the survey assessed students’ sustainability literacy through the use of seven true or false questions.
• “Cradle to grave” refers to assessing a product's lifecycle from creation to disposal.
o 70.8% believed this to be true
o 14.4% indicated this was false, and 14.8% indicated that they did not know.
• The term "carbon footprint" refers to the total sets of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or individual.
o 83.1% considered this statement true
o 12.1% stated it was false, and 4.8% said they did not know.
• Oil, iron ore, trees, sunshine, and coal are considered renewable resources.
o 68.5% of students stated this was false
o 27.5% believed this to be true, and 4.0% did not know.
• With regard to natural resources, "sustainability" means using only as much as is replaced by natural processes.
o 75.4% indicated that this statement was true
o 20.0% believed this was false, and 4.6% indicated that they did not know.
• In order to sustain life, the earth requires greenhouse gasses.
o 56.7% stated that this was true
o 34.8% believed this to be false, and 8.5% did not know.
• The Urban Heat Island Effect is the increase in the number of cities that cut off exports and imports during hot summer months.
o 42.8% thought this statement was true
o 33.0% indicated that this was false
o 24.2% stated that they did not know
• A principle of Systems Thinking is addressing problems immediately so to not create new problems in the future.
o 75.7% stated that this was true
o 12.5% believed this to be false
o 11.8% indicated that they did not know

Data were taken from the University of Central Florida Student Sustainability Literacy Survey:
Executive Summary, June 2016, by Alyssa Mullins, Ph.D., Amy Donley, Ph.D., and Rachel Totaram