Environmental Impact Assessment of Undergraduate Apparel Consumption Behavior

Abstract

Lifestyle changes have altered the consumption behavior of people. As one of the most energy-intensive and energy-consuming activities in the apparel consumption process, laundry and clothes drying have a significant impact on the environment in terms of carbon emissions and water consumption. Undergraduates are a special category of people whose worldviews are in the developmental stage, and it is important to study and develop their beliefs and behaviors regarding environmental consumption. This study investigates and evaluates the relationship between undergraduates’ consumption behaviors and environmental impacts. The 125 undergraduates in Hangzhou, China are classified into three different washing modes: H-mode (hand-washing only), M-mode (machine-washing only), and HM-mode (hand- and machine-washing) on the basis of their washing behavior. The environmental impacts including water footprint and carbon footprint of undergraduates are calculated by the methods of direct consumptive carbon footprint ( CC F dir ) and direct consumptive water footprint ( CW F dir ). The results show that the factors leading to the environmental impacts of Hangzhou undergraduates’ apparel consumption behavior are: washing frequency, consumer knowledge, washing method, drying frequency and method and clothing purchase quantity. It also reveals that higher washing and drying frequencies can lead to more energy and water consumption, which ultimately result in more severe environmental impact. Besides, consumer knowledge, washing and drying method do have a significant influence on undergraduates’ CC F dir and CW F dir . Understanding the factors that influence undergraduates’ apparel consumption behavior can help cultivate their environmental awareness as well as provide guidance to the government and universities in identifying the environmental impact of undergraduates’ clothing consumption.