A survey...

In this report a survey was carried out in the preintermediate A class, in order to find out which are the most common and basic sustainability practices that people can use easily. Through the results of this survey it is possible to know some of the most common practices with which we can contribute for an appropriate management of the resources consumption and therefore in the promotion of small scale sustainability practices. For this purpose, in our small population it have been formulated a total of 10 questions about everyday actions that can help in reducing the human environmental demand.

The survey results show that all the people use their own beverage containers and utensils. The importance of this choice lies in the saving of materials that were employed in the fabrication of the containers, thus, the production and consumption of different kinds of materials such as plastic can be reduced if this initiative was implemented on a larger scale.

Additionally, most of the people interviewed consider in general that they use a lot of products whose raw material is the plastic, and a few people products with metal and organic materials. It is a good result since plastic is a well-known recyclable material, on the other hand, despite we must reduce the dependence on nonrenewable and unnatural products, at the moment there is an irreplaceable dependence in some materials.

The results also show that most of the people interviewed have not planted a tree. Although it is not a considerable sustainability alternative in small scale, it can represent a symbolic support for the environmental care. Unfortunately, most of the people surveyed do not save their leftovers for other alternative uses, despite it can be used or disposed in a more efficiently way, like compost generation.

Regarding the use of alternative transportation, most of the people travel the city by car or by the common public transportation system, and sadly, only one person prefer walking and none of the people uses the bicycle. Unfortunately, only two persons unplug the unused appliances in their home, in this case the electric components are called 'vampire consumers', and it may not seem like a great help in reducing the energetic consumption, but as time passes the energy savings can be considerable.

In some point of the survey the results show a balanced thinking in the answers of the different questions, as in the case of the use of the elevator or the stairs in a building, half the people prefer use one or the other. The same happens at the moment of taking a shower, half the people prefer the use of cold water and also half people prefer the use of hot water. With respect to the reading of documents, half the people prefer read  it in a printed paper and also half people prefer read it electronically. And finally, half the people consider the environmental friendly aspects of the company that makes the product and pay more for it and the other half does not.

From the results of the survey it is clearly evidenced that the students of the preintermediate A class are moderately 'green'. It suggest that many of the surveyed should improve some of their habits, in order to contribute more adequately to the environmental protection. However, despite it is not an easy task, it is noteworthy that all of the surveyed agreed that it is necessary to change the environmental practices of people, in order to generate more sustainable cities and environments. This is an international thinking, since the climate change affectations have warned most of the people in the world, which are worried about to generate different strategies with the aim of reduce its environmental impact.

Several recommendations can arise from the results of this survey, based on their answers, it is clear that all the people know where are their weaknesses in the environmental protection context, therefore, it is necessary to start a really and conscious practice of those everyday actions that can help with environmental management, as an examples, the reuse and recycle of common utilized materials, proper energy and water management in our homes, the reduction of fossil fuels consumption which is mainly represented by the means of transportation in our cities, so we should use other alternatives such as cycling and walking.

Since the best way to help the environment is to rationalize our consumption, we need to live in a sustainable way, and for this it is necessary that in our consumption habits we reflect awareness of the impact that we provoke in the environment, as well as, learning to save and to consume in a responsible manner with the help of appropriate technologies that invite us to join a life sustainable and environmentally friendly. Finally, it is clear that each person can put into practice, as most they can, the sustainability principles and help to implement environmental friendly practices, since it is in a little scale that the big things happens.