Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2015, 63(2), 607-616 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201563020607

Pro-environmental Behaviour of Households in the Czech Republic

Marie Prášilová¹, Radka Procházková¹, Pavla Varvažovská²

¹ Department of Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic

² Department of Humanities, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Apart from the positive effects, which are reflected in the relative improvement of the quality of life, the way households satisfy their needs has a direct impact on many environmental problems. Among them are global climatic changes, air, soil and water pollution, excessive usage of natural resources and loss of biodiversity. Sustainable consumption belongs to the key elements of global movement for sustainable development. It can be characterized as consumer behaviour which satisfies the needs of current and future generations. Czech households influence the environment every day by doing their shopping, consuming and using various kinds of products and services, the way they spend their leisure time, by commuting to work and travelling in general and, last but not the least, by producing waste. Both the location and the size of the household significantly influence the environment as well. 30 to 40% of environmental problems are caused by households. Thus, pro-environmental movements warn of the necessity to eliminate negative impacts of households' behaviour. This paper analyses development tendencies of relevant indicators of household operations which have impact on the environment. The attention is paid primarily to consumption of electrical energy, water and food by households, usage of personal means of transport and production of communal waste. Time series statistical methods were used when assessing development tendencies.

Keywords: household, environment, consumer behaviour, sustainable consumption, energy, water, organic foods, transport, communal waste

Grants and funding:

The information introduced in this paper resulted from the solution of a project of IGA No. 20131036, at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, "Involving citizens of rural communities in public life."

Prepublished online: May 10, 2015; Published: April 1, 2015  Show citation