C.U.O.R.E

Questionnaire for parents

Sample: 191 subjects

“Elena Cuza” School, Iaşi

A material realized by the psychopedagogical teacher, Bârlădeanu Corina

23%

62%

16%

1. To what extent are you concerned about the present state of the health of the environment in your town?

a. foarte preocupat/ă

b. preocupat/ă

c. puţin preocupată

d. nu mă preocupă deloc

At the first question, which concerns the parents’ interest in environmental problems, 62% of subjects have answered that they were concerned about these problems, 22% of subjects said that they were very

concerned about environmental problems and 16 % of subjects answered that they were little concerned about them. These percentages point to us a rather high interest of the adults (parents) questioned on environmental problems and on problems related to the health of the environment we live in.

19%

49%

30%

2%

2. Do you talk in your family about problems related to the protection of the environment?

a. întotdeaunab. deseoric. rareorid. niciodată

As far as this question is concerned, the diagram indicates to us that there is a slight tendency to communicate more and to discuss in family different aspects which are connected with the protection of the environment and with the education provided to children in this respect. 19% of parents answered that they always talked with their children about such problems, 49% of parents answered that they often discussed these problems while 30% of parents stated that they seldom talked about these issues and 2 % said that they never discussed them in family. We can notice therefore that problems regarding the protection and the conservation of the environment we live in become a point of interest for more and more inhabitants of the local community.

23%

48%

26%

3%

3. The protection of the environment also implies measures to save/reuse water, energy and waste. Do you support and apply such measures in your family?

a. întotdeaunab. deseoric. rareorid. niciodată

The parents’ answers at this question complete the answers given at the previous question and confirm the conviction that there is a growing tendency for people to save resources and be concerned about the protection of the environment. Therefore 23% of respondents stated that they always saved resources, 48% of them stated that they often saved resources, 26% of respondents answered that they seldom saved resources and 3 % of respondents declared that they never saved them.

21%

27%31%

20%

a. întotdeauna

b. deseori

c. rareori

d. niciodată

4. Waste which are the result of daily activities and can harm the environment are: paper, card-board, bottles, glass, plastic containers, scrap iron, organic materials, clothes, shoes, electronic and domestic devices, dangerous waste (boxes of varnishes, lacquers, paints, gas bottles) etc. Do you se-lect these materials when you throw them away?

This question concerns the daily behaviour, the routine, if you wish to say so, of our subjects regarding the way in which they throw the waste. 22% of parents always select waste before throwing them, 27% of them often make a selection of waste, 31 % of parents seldom select waste and 20% of them never make a selection of waste. From a certain point of view, the percentages which resulted are correlated with the results at question no. 6 namely, a high precentage of subjects don’t make a selection of waste maybe because in the area they live there are no selective waste containers.

2%

20%

77%

5. Did you happen to throw away plastic bottles, paper, cardboard in the street or in green areas?

a. întotdeauna

b. deseori

c. rareori

d. niciodată

This item concerned the subjects’ capacity for self-analysis and for becoming aware of their own social behaviour related to the protection of the environment. We can notice that there is a a very high percentage, 78% of parents who have never thrown waste in the street and only 20% of them seldom threw waste materials in the street and 2 % often threw them in the street. These percentages are satisfactory as long as the answers are correct, otherwise we can talk about an attitude change due to the wish for social desirability on the part of the parents.

27%

68%

5%

6. Are there any selective waste containers in your neighbourhood?

a. da

b. nu

c. nu ştiu

As for this item, 68% of parents answered that there were no special selective waste containers, 27% of them confirmed that there were such containers in their neighbourhood and 5 % answered that they didn’t know about their existence.

1%12%

38%

49%

7. Have you ever delivered such waste to a collection centre?

a. întotdeauna

b. deseori

c. rareori

d. niciodată

Question no.7 relates to the evident behaviour of subjects concerning the actions for the collection of waste that have been taken so far. Therefore, 1 % of respondents have always delivered waste to the collection centres, 12 % often delivered waste to such centres, 38% of subjects seldom did this and 49% never delivered waste materials to a collection centre. On one hand, these percentages point out the subjects’ lack of education and interest in this respect and on the other hand, they point out the poor management at an administrative and territorial level of the companies which manage these collection centres.

4%

21%

48%

27%

8. Have you ever given a new use to some waste in your household?

a. întotdeaunab. deseoric. rareorid. niciodată

As to question 8, which also refers to the parents’ behaviour, 4% of respondents answered that they always reused waste, 21% of them often reuse waste, 48% seldom reuse waste materials and 27% never give another use to the materials which they throw. The results received at this item are correlated with those received at question 7 and underline once more the lack of an ecological education of the subjects in this respect and maybe the easiness with which this problem is dealt with.

94%

6%

9. Is your house equipped with water gauges for metering?

a. dab. nu c. nu ştiu

As to question 9, the subjects were required to answer if they had metering devices in their houses. Thus, a very high percentage, 94% of the questioned parents have water gauges in their house and only 6 % don ’t have such devices in their house. This result can be explained by the subjects’ concern and interest in water saving.

41%

46%

13%

10. Which is the monthly water consumption per family?

a. sub 10m3b. peste 10m3c. nu ţin cont de consum

This question refers to the monthly water consumption. The water consumption of 41% of subjects is below 10m3 monthly, the consumption of 46% is above 10m3 monthly and 13% of respondents are not interested in water consumption and don’t take into account how much water they consume monthly.

4%

93%

3%

11. Do the taps in your apartment lose water?

a. dab. nuc. nu ştiu

At question 13, which concerns the water losses in the houses, a high percentage of subjects, 93% of

them answered that their taps didn’t have water losses, 4 % answered that their taps had water losses and 3 % answered that they didn’t know whether the taps had losses or not. These results are correlated with those received at question 9 and underline the parents’ concern about water consumption.

11%

29%

25%

35%

12. How often do you use the washing machine?

a. o datăb. de două oric. de trei orid. de mai multe ori

This item refers to water consumption. 11% of subjects answered that they used the washing machine once a week, 29% answered that they used it twice a week, 25 % of subjects use it three times a week and 35% use the washing machine several times a week.

These results are correlated with those received at question 10 concerning the monthly

consumption of water and in both diagrams we can therefore notice a growing tendency towards consumption.

1% 7%

92%

13. Did you happen to wash the car or other different personal goods in the water of the rivers/lakes?

a. întotdeaunab. deseoric. rareorid. niciodată

Question 13 is meant to emphasize the respondents’ behaviour and attitude regarding the environment. Therefore, 92% of parents stated that they never washed their car in the water of rivers and lakes, 7 % answered that they seldom washed it in the rivers or lakes and 1% said that they always washed the car in the water of rivers and lakes. These percentages are satisfactory as long as the answers are correct, otherwise we can talk about an attitude change due to the wish for social desirability on the part of parents.

16%

8% 4%

61%

12%

14. What type of light bulbs do you use in your house?

a. cu incandescenţăb. fluorescentc. halogend. economic e. nu ştiu

Parents gave the following answers at question 14: 16 % of parents use incandescent light bulbs, 8% have fluorescent light bulbs, 4% have halogen light bulbs, 61% of parents have economic light bulbs and 11 % didn’t know to answer at this question.

66%

7%

27%

15. Do you turn on the light in your house:

a. ori de câte ori este nevoie în cursul zilei

b. indiferent de momentul zilei

c. cât mai rar

Item 15 takes into account the subjects’ daily conduct, their daily practices. 66% of subjects stated that they turned on the light as often as necessary in the daytime, 7 % of parents answered that they turned on the light irrespective of the moment of the day and 27% said that they turned it on as seldom as possible. As in the case of the items which concerned water consumption, we can notice a slight growing tendency for the saving of energy.

68%

24%

5% 3%

16. Do you turn off all the electrical equipment (computer, radio, printer, etc.) each time you use them?

a. întotdeauna

b. deseori

c. rareori

d. niciodată

This question concerns the subjects’ habits as far as electrical and domestic equipment is concerned. We can notice that 68% of respondents always turn off the electrical equipment in their house after using them, 24% often turn them off, 5% seldom turn off the electrical equipment and 3% never turn off the electrical equipment. These results are correlated with the other data from the items which take into account consumption.

30%

57%

13%

17. Which is the monthly energy consumption in your apartment?

a. sub 100kw

b. peste 100 kw

c. nu ştiu

This question refers to the energy consumption in the houses of the subjects of the analysis. Therefore 30% of parents stated that the consumption of energy was below 100kw, 57% answered that the consumption was above 100 kw and 13 % stated that they didn’t know what their consumption was.

43%

33%

24%

18. Do you think that the way you paint the walls of your house influences the consumption of energy?

a. dab. nuc. nu ştiu

This question required the subjects to express their opinion concerning the relationship which exists between the way we decorate our house and the consumption of energy. 43% of parents think that the way the walls are painted has an influence on the consumption of energy, 33% answered that his didn’t have any influence on the consumption of energy and 24% of parents abstained from answering or didn’t know to answer. These results demonstrate that a rather high percentage of parents have information- at least at a theoretical level- about possible ways of saving energy.

79%

14%

7% 1%

19. Do you prefer natural light to artificial light (from light bulbs) in the daytime?

a. întotdeaunab. deseoric. rareorid. niciodată

Item no.19 is an opinion item and takes into account the respondents’ preference for a certain type of light, natural or artificial light. A very high percentage of the subjects answered that they always preferred natural light to artificial light (78 %), 14% answered that they often preferred natural light to artificial one, 7% stated that they seldom preferred natural light to artificial one and 1% answered that they never preferred natural light to artificial light.

86%

5%

9%

20. Would you like to find more information concerning the “3R education” (reduction, reuse, recycling)?

a. da

b. nu

c. nu ştiu

The last question in the questionnaire, an opinion question, was meant to be a feed-back of our whole analysis

and referred to the parents’ wish to find out other information about “3R education”. A very high percentage, 86% of parents stated that they wanted to find more things about “3R education”, 9 % said that they didn’t know if they wanted to find more information and 5 % answered that they didn’t want to find more things about “3R education”. We don’t consider this rejection a form of ignorance, but we think that this percentage was a consequence of the lack of time. However, the subjects’ interest in these themes is very high.

Identification data:

18%

77%

5%

Vârsta

<35 ani35-50 ani> 50 ani

16%

84%

Sex

MasculinFeminin

65%

28%

7%

Studii

studii mediistudii superioarefără studii

Among the subjects who took part in this survey, 84% were women and 16% were men. 77% of subjects are aged between 35 and 50 years old (active population), 5% of subjects are above 50 years old and 18% of subjects are below 35 years old.

Most of the respondents, respectively 65% of them have a secondary education, 28% of them have a university education and 7% don’t have any education. There may be a correlation between the percentage of 5% represented by the subjects who are above 50 years old and the percentage of 7% represented by the persons without an education. This correlation is not obligatory though.

Conclusions of the questionnaires

Following the results of the questionnaire, we notice that there is a tendency to save energy and water but this is only on account of the costs. It is also remarkable the adults’ growing interest in these problems and this is a positive thing because there is a motivation. There is also a deficiency concerning the organization of the cleaning local administrative companies.