engleski

Factors Influencing Personal Carbon Footprint of the Croatian University Students

Reducing personal carbon footprints has been recognized as an urgent need to achieve national or global carbon reduction targets. To promote awareness of the impact of an individual's lifestyle on carbon emissions, it is important to accurately determine the amount of carbon emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual's activities and lifestyle, as well as the influencing factors that contribute to them. However, little is known about the potential factors that shape and change an individual's carbon behavior. To fill this gap, the main objective of this paper is to analyze the carbon footprint of university students and to show whether the personal carbon footprint (PCF) varies according to students' demographic characteristics such as education, gender or income level. In addition, the relationship between different influencing factors that contribute to a low carbon footprint of a person will be investigated. The paper is based on a convenient sample using data collected through a self-administered online questionnaire completed by 182 students from Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia. Multiple linear regression method was applied to assess the influence of explanatory variables (socio-demographic attributes and perceptions of main barriers and incentives) on students' personal carbon footprint (PCF). The results show that place of residence and disposable personal income show a statistically significant positive influence on PCF, while financial savings and lack of knowledge have a significantly negative influence on PCF. The study contributes to empirical evidence on the personal or system-level hotspots that influence carbon footprint reduction. Universities have the opportunity to shape environmentally friendly behaviors of students before they become professionals, leaders, or managers. Consequently, raising students' carbon footprint awareness can contribute to more effective carbon emission reduction of organizations and societies in the future.

Personal Carbon Footprint Calculator, Incentives, Barriers, Sociodemographic Profile, Multiple Linear Regression

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