Consumo sustentável e a influência das mídias sociais no gerenciamento dos resíduos alimentares

Abstract

In 2020 alone, about 82.5 million tons of waste were generated. Of this total, 39.8% were disposed of in inappropriate areas. Given the large amount of waste generated and its poor disposal, the need and relevance to seek different ways to promote environmental awareness is clear. Initially, the minimization of consumption must be desired based on practices that include the reduction of generation at the source and reusing, recycling, and recovery. One way to promote the recycling of organic compounds is the practice of waste composting, in which, from a biological process of decomposition of matter, compounds that would initially be discarded can return to their natural cycle. One way to promote environmental awareness is through social networks because studies indicate that interpersonal influence can contribute to sustainable behavior since people's consumption patterns can be influenced by the content seen on social media. Given this theme, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of social media on people's behavior towards waste management and to analyze the engagement for the use or not of home composting, obtaining an empirical model of behavioral description of individuals. Five questions were prepared and applied in a questionnaire to get objective answers in order to promote the tabulation of data and statistical analysis, in which the software R version 4.2.3 and the stats package were used. There were 253 answers for the 5 questions, where most people showed discomfort with the amount of waste generated at home and expressed interest in sharing and following content related to sustainability. Most people do not know or practice the composting technique at home. The statistical analysis showed that gender is an influential factor in the behavior of individuals, and people who follow sustainability content on social networks are 3.5 times more likely to answer yes in Q1, which is related to the annoyance of people about the amount of waste they generate in their homes. However, other actions on social networks did not differ between those who are bothered or not about the waste generated. What instigates the question for future research: what is missing for these actions to be consolidated in our socio-environmental dynamics?