Environmental Sustainability In Trinidad And Tobago Essay

Economic Instruments to Manage Environmental Sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

There are several causes linked to increased solid waste generation such as population growth, increased urbanisation, production of cheaper and biodegradable packaging materials, increased per capita income and improved standards of living which have allowed for greater consumption of packaged goods. All of this is as a result of economic growth and development. However, this puts a lot of pressure on the environment which needs to be addressed if there is to be environmental sustainability. (Meier, 1989) states that development is taken to mean growth plus change and this includes the development of institutions and a change in attitude

Examples include emissions of carbon and of nitrogen oxides and municipal wastes (see Figure 1.). Meier also states that in most countries individuals and firms have few incentives to cut back on wastes and emissions, and until such incentives are put in place – through regulation, charges, or other means, damage will continue to increase.

(Meier, Figure 1: Municipal wastes per capita, 2004)

There are three elements associated with sustainable development: economical, social and environmental. (Munasinghe, 2004) developed the sustainable development triangle which encompasses these three elements (See Figure 2). The economic aspect is geared toward improving human welfare, primarily through increases in consumption of goods and services. Economic sustainability seeks to maximize the flow of income that could be

(Schultz, Oskamp, & Mainieri, 1995) conducted research on recycling behaviour and the effects on recycling of both personal and situational variables. They state that the growth in environmental concerns have resulted in an increased interest in recycling programs and most recycling programs have in common the reliance on individual participation. In order to reduce the amount of trash in landfills, scientists, policy-makers and community leaders need to understand the factors that lead people to recycle. In their research they highlighted two variables to recycling behaviour – personal and situational variables. Personal variables are broken down into four categories: environmental attitudes, knowledge, demographic and personality variables. Situational factors fall into two categories: antecedent and consequent interventions. Antecedent intervention seeks to increase recycling behaviour by altering a variable prior to performance of the behaviour, for example collecting recyclables and delivering recyclables to a collection centre. Five types of antecedent variables were studied: prompting, commitment, normative influence, goal setting, and removal of barriers to recycling. Consequent intervention involves attempts to modify recycling behaviour by presenting a consequence, for example feedback of information, a reward or punishment. They concluded that resolving solid