Search Results (44)

Promoting municipal solid waste (MSW) sorting is critical to advancing sustainable and low-carbon urban development. While existing research often focuses separately on external policy tools or internal behavioral drivers, limited attention has been given to their joint effects within an integrated framework. This study addresses this gap by analyzing micro-survey data from 1983 residents across 34 prefecture-level and above cities in China, using a bivariate probit model to examine how policy tools and policy perception—both independently and interactively—shape residents’ active and passive compliance with MSW sorting policies. The findings reveal five key insights. First, the adoption and spatial distribution of policy tools are uneven: environment-type tools dominate, supply-type tools are moderately deployed, and demand-type tools are underutilized. Second, both policy tools and policy perception significantly promote compliance behaviors, with policy cognition exerting the strongest effect. Third, differential effects are observed—policy cognition primarily drives active compliance, whereas policy acceptance more strongly predicts passive compliance. Fourth, synergistic effects emerge when supply-type tools are combined with environment-type or demand-type tools. Finally, policy perception not only directly enhances compliance but also moderates the effectiveness of policy tools, with notable heterogeneity among residents with higher cognitive or emotional alignment. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of compliance mechanisms and offer practical implications for designing perception-sensitive and regionally adaptive MSW governance strategies. Full article

Addressing climate change requires not only knowledge but also psychological resilience. This study examined whether integrating Mental Mode Management (MMM) self-regulation training with climate education improves pro-environmental outcomes and emotional responses to climate change. In a randomised 2 × 2 design, 44 participants were assigned to either a control group (CG; n = 21), which received a six-week climate education programme, or an experimental group (MMM; n = 23), which received the same education plus MMM training. Pro-environmental attitudes, behaviours, carbon emissions, climate change anxiety, mindfulness, and executive functions were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. A follow-up was also conducted six months later. Both groups showed increased pro-environmental attitudes post-intervention (η² = 0.3) and reduced food-related emissions (η² = 0.107). No changes were observed in pro-environmental behaviour scores or global carbon footprint. While neither intervention affected overall climate anxiety or cognitive impairment, functional impairment increased in the CG and decreased in the MMM group (η² = 0.177), with mindfulness facet acting with awareness moderating this effect. These findings contribute to sustainability research by showing that integrating climate education with psychological training enhances environmental awareness and fosters emotionally resilient engagement with climate challenges, supporting individual-level contributions to broader sustainability goals. Full article

In the context of climate change, it becomes of utmost importance to limit the negative impact of industrial activities on carbon emissions, water stress, biodiversity loss, and natural resources depletion. Whether we consider the situation from a product-centered perspective (life cycle, R&D&I process, tools, methods, design, production, etc.) or from a human-centered perspective (habits, practices, fixation, strategic orientations, emotional sensitivity, etc.), coming years will represent a formidable upheaval for companies. To support this transition, various tools assessing products’ impact have been developed over the past decade. They aim at guiding decision makers, integrating new criteria to assess project success, and promoting the development and industrialization of solutions answering pressing environmental issues. If assessment is a key factor of success, it has become clear that processes and practices also need to evolve for practitioners to properly integrate sustainable requirements from the initial stages of their project. In that context, biomimicry, the approach aimed at taking nature as a model to support the design of more sustainable solutions, has been the center of growing interest. However, no integrated methods exist in the cosmetics sector to assess if a product is properly developed through biomimicry. This missing framework led to difficulties for cosmetic companies to support eco-design through biomimicry. In this article, we present a method called Biomim’Index developed by L’Oréal research and innovation sustainable development team to address three objectives: (i) to characterize cosmetic technologies according to whether they are based on bioinspiration, biomimetics or biomimicry; (ii) to guide the project’s leaders to identify key steps to improve existing cosmetic technologies through biomimicry; and (iii) to support the integration of biomimicry as an operational approach towards the development of new sustainable cosmetic technologies. This method, focusing on the problem-driven biomimetic approach is based on a combination of procedural requirements from the biomimetics TC288 18458:2015 ISO norm and environmental design requirements from L’Oréal for the Future (L4TF) commitments. Results present a proof of concept to outline the method’s efficiency and limits to support innovative eco-designed projects and value cosmetic technologies designed through biomimicry. Full article

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the primary causes of disability and dependency among aging populations worldwide. Neuroinflammation may be a potential therapeutic target in AD. Moreover, ionizing radiation may be a tool for modulating neuroinflammation. Here, we used three mouse lines—C57Bl/6 and the transgenic AD models 5xFAD and Tau P301S—to investigate the effects of combined ionizing radiation (γ-rays and carbon-12 nuclei) on emotional state, cognitive abilities, and markers of microglial activation. The obtained data show that combined irradiation results in enhanced exploratory behavior and spatial learning in the C57Bl/6 mice. The same changes, as well as a decrease in anxiety, were found in the Tau P301S mice. Irradiation of the 5xFAD mice resulted in improved welfare and ability to discriminate odors. At the same time, irradiation led to an increase in the level of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the prefrontal cortex and, to a lesser extent, in the hippocampus of the C57Bl/6 and Tau P301S mice. An increase in macrophage inflammatory protein-1α in the prefrontal cortex and a decrease in interleukin 2β in the hippocampus were found in the 5xFAD mice. Taken together, our data indicate that ionizing radiation exposure is an adequate tool to modulate microglial activity in the brain and may provide cognitive and non-cognitive behavioral benefits in neurodegenerative disease conditions. Full article

Ting, Tai, Lou, and Ge are types of ancient buildings that represent traditional Chinese architecture and culture. They are primarily constructed using mortise and tenon joints, complemented by brick and stone foundations, showcasing traditional architectural craftsmanship. However, research aimed at conserving, inheriting, and rejuvenating these buildings is limited, despite their status as Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units of China. Therefore, the aim of this study was to reveal the spatial distribution of Ting, Tai, Lou, and Ge buildings across China, as well as the factors driving differences in their spatial distribution. Tourist experiences and building popularity were also explored. The spatial analysis method (e.g., Standard deviation ellipse and Geographic detector), Word cloud generation, and sentiment analysis, which uses Natural Language Processing techniques to identify subjective emotions in text, were applied to investigated the research issues. The key findings of this study are as follows. The ratio of Ting, Tai, Lou, and Ge buildings in Southeast China to that in Northwest China divided by the “Heihe–Tengchong” Line, an important demographic boundary in China with the ratio of permanent residents in the two areas remaining stable at 94:6, was 94.6:5.4. Geographic detector analysis revealed that six of the seven natural and socioeconomic factors (topography, waterways, roads, railways, population, and carbon dioxide emissions) had a significant influence on the spatial heterogeneity of these cultural heritage buildings in China, with socioeconomic factors, particularly population, having a greater influence on building spatial distributions. All seven factors (including the normalized difference vegetation index, an indicator used to assess vegetation health and coverage) were significant in Southeast China, whereas all factors were non-significant in Northwest China, which may be explained by the small number of buildings in the latter region. The average rating scores and heat scores for Ting, Tai, Lou, and Ge buildings were 4.35 (out of 5) and 3 (out of 10), respectively, reflecting an imbalance between service quality and popularity. According to the percentages of positive and negative reviews, Lou buildings have much better tourism services than other buildings, indicating a need to improve services to attract more tourists to Ting, Tai, and Ge buildings. Four main types of words were used with high frequency in the tourism reviews collected form Ctrip, a popular online travel platform in China: (1) historical stories; (2) tourism; (3) culture; and (4) cities/provinces. Ting and Tai buildings showed similar word clouds, as did Lou and Ge buildings, with only the former including historical stories. Conversely, landmark was a high-frequency word only in the reviews of Lou and Ge buildings. Specific suggestions were proposed based on the above findings to promote tourism and revive ancient Chinese architecture. Full article

This study introduces an innovative Emotional Artificial Neural Network (EANN) model to predict ship fuel consumption with high accuracy, addressing the challenges posed by complex environmental conditions and operational variability. This research examines the impact of climate change on maritime operations and fuel efficiency by analyzing climatic variables such as wave period, wind speed, and sea-level rise. The model’s performance is assessed using two ship types (bulk carrier and container ship with max 60,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT)) under various climate scenarios. A comparative analysis demonstrates that the EANN model significantly outperforms the conventional Feedforward Neural Network (FFNN) in predictive accuracy. For bulk carriers, the EANN achieved a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 5.71 tons/day during testing, compared to 9.91 tons/day for the FFNN model. Similarly, for container ships, the EANN model achieved an RMSE of 5.97 tons/day, significantly better than the FFNN model’s 10.18 tons/day. A sensitivity analysis identified vessel speed as the most critical factor, contributing 33% to the variance in fuel consumption, followed by engine power and current speed. Climate-change simulations showed that fuel consumption increases by an average of 22% for bulk carriers and 19% for container ships, highlighting the importance of operational optimizations. This study emphasizes the efficacy of the EANN model in predicting fuel consumption and optimizing ship performance. The proposed model provides a framework for improving energy efficiency and supporting compliance with International Maritime Organization Standards (IMO) environmental standards. Meanwhile, the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) evaluation results emphasize the urgent need for measures to reduce carbon emissions to meet the IMO’s 2030 standards. Full article

Forestry heritage tourism can spread the ecological concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and it is a nature-based solution to climate change. However, how tourists are guided to form an emotional identity and how their attention to climate change issues can be stimulated continuously remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, we selected the Wuyi Mountain Forestry Heritage Site as our study site and employed PLS-SEM to analyze the responses of 384 tourists, thereby examining the underlying mechanism linking their perceptions of climate change to carbon offset behaviors within forestry heritage sites. The results showed the following: Perceptions of climate change had a positive and significant impact on carbon offset behavior (β = 0.310, p < 0.001), ecological identity had a positive and significant impact on carbon offset behavior (β = 0.375, p < 0.001), and the sense of environmental responsibility had a positive and significant impact on carbon offset behavior (β = 0.226, p < 0.01). At the same time, ecological identity and environmental responsibility play an intermediary role, and the impact of climate change perception on the carbon offset behavior of tourists at forestry heritage sites is moderated by tourists’ health attitudes. In addition, gender, age, and educational background have an impact on the process of carbon-offsetting behavior development at forestry heritage sites. This research further clarifies the internal logic of tourists’ carbon offset behavior in the context of heritage tourism, helps to enrich the theoretical system of Nbs and heritage tourism research, and provides a feasible reference for the realization of the SDGs. Full article

Older adults are both vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and uniquely positioned to contribute to climate action. However, their ability and willingness to engage vary significantly due to health disparities, financial constraints, and cultural factors. To ensure inclusivity, climate policies must reflect these differences and empower older adults to participate effectively. This research focused on 30 London-based older adults aged 60–85 (18 women, 12 men) selected via purposive sampling and stratified by gender and climate awareness. All participants were interested in climate issues and engaged in seven small focus groups facilitated by two researchers. Discussions addressed climate perceptions, low-carbon behaviors, and policy recommendations. The findings reveal that tailored communication, featuring simplified language and visual materials, resonates deeply with older adults, fostering better understanding and emotional connection. Participants highlighted practical low-carbon actions they already undertake, such as energy conservation, food waste reduction, and public transport use. They also proposed innovative strategies for promoting climate awareness, including integrating cultural and emotional elements, encouraging intergenerational learning, and providing economic incentives for green practices. To enhance the engagement of older adults in climate action, governments and corporations should develop inclusive communication strategies, provide financial support for adopting green technologies, and foster intergenerational collaboration to share knowledge and experiences in the communities. This study amplifies the voices of older adults in climate discourse, offering actionable insights for shaping communication strategies and policies. While this study provides valuable insights into older adults’ contributions to climate action, future research could expand the sample size and geographic diversity to enhance the generalizability of findings. Full article

As rational economic beings, economic gains in behavior influence consumers. Consequently, rewards influence consumer behavior, which leads to altruism and warm traits. This motivates consumers to enhance their willingness to behave in a pro-social way. Previous studies demonstrate that rewards can positively influence the environmentally conscious consumption behavior of consumers. However, their impact on the willingness of tourists to adopt low-carbon behavior is overlooked. Promoting low-carbon behavior, incentive services are becoming increasingly prevalent in tourism. Encouraging tourists to start behaving in a low-carbon way is of particular importance for sustainable tourism. Authors have combined rewards and the low-carbon behavioral intentions of tourists based on stimulus–organism–response theory to explore the positive emotions of tourists triggered by rewards. This theory posits that positive emotions will further boost tourist willingness to engage in low-carbon behavior. Thus, we conducted three experiments to investigate three key areas, namely, the role of rewards in influencing tourists’ willingness to become involved in low-carbon behavior, the impact of rewards on the generation of positive emotions, and the impact of positive emotions with regard to the readiness to become involved low-carbon behaviors. The results indicate that rewards exert a positive effect on emotions, which influences the inclination to engage in environmentally friendly behavior. Additionally, the extent of environmental knowledge moderates the willingness to participate in such activities. This paper provides original insights into the factors influencing the willingness of tourists to participate in low-carbon practices and provides valuable managerial guidance for the sustainable development of tourism. Full article

The effects of air quality on health and cognition are well documented, but few studies have focused on its impact on emotions, leaving this area underexplored. This study investigates the influence of environmental factors—specifically particulate matter (PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀) and carbon dioxide (CO₂)—on students’ basic emotions in secondary school classrooms. For the collection of environmental data, we used low-cost sensors, which were carefully calibrated to ensure acceptable accuracy for monitoring air quality variables, despite inherent precision limitations compared to traditional sensors. Emotions were recorded via camera and analyzed using a custom-developed code. Based on these data, we found significant but modest correlations, such as the negative correlation between PM levels and happiness, and positive correlations of CO₂ concentrations with fear and disgust. The regression models explained between 36% and 62% of the variance in emotions like neutrality, sadness, fear, and happiness, highlighting nonlinear relationships in some cases. These findings underscore the need for improved classroom environmental management, including the implementation of real-time air quality monitoring systems. Such systems would enable schools to mitigate the negative emotional effects of poor air quality, contributing to healthier and more conducive learning environments. Future research should explore the combined effects of multiple environmental factors to further understand their impact on student well-being. Full article

Expedited economic expansion and innovative technological advancement have precipitated considerable environmental predicaments, giving rise to extensive ecological conundrums worldwide. In response to the pressing situation, numerous countries have implemented policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. One such initiative is the “low-carbon label”, which signifies a commitment to lowering carbon emissions. On one hand, it offers consumers an effective means to identify low-carbon products, thereby enhancing their willingness towards green consumption. On the other hand, it motivates businesses to transition towards greener practices, thereby guiding the market towards more environmentally friendly directions. This transition has had a significantly positive impact on reducing carbon emissions and promoting the development of a low-carbon economy, highlighting its critical value within the broader environmental movement. This study focuses on exploring whether the low-carbon label can influence consumers’ willingness to purchase green agricultural products. The theoretical framework was developed based on the theory of perceived value and SOR theory. The data were gathered through a randomized survey conducted in China. The research findings suggest that the perceived environmental value, functional value, and emotional value have significant impacts on consumers’ willingness to purchase green agricultural products. Trust in low-carbon labels plays a critical role in mediating the relationship between perceived value and consumers’ purchasing intentions for green agricultural products. Our research yielded the following conclusions. (1) Consumers are progressively cultivating an independent pro-environmental persona and increasingly aligning themselves with sustainable development, as indicated by their affinity towards carbon labels. (2) The selection of low-carbon agricultural products by consumers is contingent upon sensory perception, emphasizing environmental spillover value, functional enhancement, and emotional support. (3) Consumer confidence in green low-carbon agricultural products stems from an intuitive perception perspective, suggesting that low-carbon labels should accentuate functional and emotional values. The study suggests proactive measures to enhance the role of low-carbon labels in the consumption of green agricultural products. These measures include three parts: (1) Improving the content system of low-carbon labels and integrating digital technologies to reconstruct trust systems; (2) strengthening promotional efforts focusing on enhancing consumers’ intrinsic value perceptions; and (3) establishing a national-level low-carbon labels certification system, raising standards, and strengthening supervision. Full article

Last Chance Tourism (LCT) is an increasingly popular phenomenon whereby tourists seek encounters with vanishing landscapes, cultures, and endangered species. However, there are concerns that it is not sufficiently ecologically informed, has a large carbon footprint, and may put further pressure on vulnerable ecosystems and communities. This review specifically focuses on the Arctic, which is a major global frontier for LCT and is at the forefront of disruptive and accelerating climate change. It draws on theoretical insights from the Ecological Grief concept to chart a new research focus as well as a pathway to share empathy, concern, and sorrow between scientists, communities, and visitors. Key literature sources on LCT and Ecological Grief were selected from major international scientific journals and monographs. The major findings of the study are (i) the Arctic cryosphere is a life-sustaining entity and disruptive changes in its mechanisms currently threaten the unique ecologies and culture of the region and (ii) LCT must be attentive to the emotive accounts of loss and grief associated with cryospheric change and emplace both human and non-human voices in the narrative. These findings are relevant for LCT researchers, tourism planners, and conscious travelers in the Arctic who prioritize destination sustainability. Full article

To achieve the “double carbon” goal, green value co-creation has been paid more and more attention. However, the role of users in green value co-creation, which is a vital aspect, could be overlooked. Understanding the internal mechanism between gamified interactions and users’ green value co-creation behaviors is crucial to motivating users’ green value co-creation behaviors. This study collected data from 410 Ant Forest users by adopting a questionnaire survey. Subsequently, this study investigated the influence mechanism of gamified interactions on users’ green value co-creation behaviors. The findings demonstrate that interactivity, cooperation, and competition are gamified interactions that positively affect users’ green value co-creation behaviors. Emotional energy acts as a mediator between gamified interactions and users’ green value co-creation behaviors. No relational distance was found to moderate the effect of gamified interactions on emotional energy. This study contributes to the current understanding of the relationship between gamified interactions and users’ green value co-creation behaviors within the “double carbon” context. Furthermore, it offers theoretical guidance for Internet enterprises to enhance users’ green value co-creation behaviors through gamified interactions. Full article

As environmental problems continue to worsen, new ways need to be found to stimulate people to be proactive in protecting the environment and engage in low-carbon behaviors. The use of eco-friendly apps may become a powerful tool for promoting offline environmental activities and encouraging low-carbon consumption behavior. Using survey data from 298 Ant Forest app users and based on the theory of consumption value, this study applies the S-O-R model and uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the impact of Ant Forest usage on consumers’ low-carbon behavior. Our research shows that Ant Forest usage enhances users’ low carbon purchase behavior and habitual low carbon consumption behavior. Epistemic, emotional, and social values play mediating roles in the usage and low-carbon consumption behaviors of Ant Forest users. When users feel the epistemic, emotional, and social values of using Ant Forest, they are more willing to engage in low-carbon consumption behavior. Herd mentality serves as a moderating variable that amplifies Ant Forest users’ sense of experience, enabling them to derive more epistemic and social value from using Ant Forest. Ant Forest’s online games and offline environmental activities help users develop low-carbon consumption habits, and this is worth promoting and replicating. Full article

The range of non-alcoholic drinks is very varied both from a compositional point of view and from a caloric and nutritional point of view. The excessive consumption of sweetened non-alcoholic beverages represents an important risk factor for health, especially when it is accompanied by an unbalanced diet and a disordered lifestyle. In order to evaluate the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages correlated with the evaluation of the main lifestyle factors that can affect the state of health among Romanians, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out based on a questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that among the most consumed non-alcoholic drinks are coffee and sweetened carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, which are indicated as being responsible for the development of consumption addictions: 44% for coffee, 16.5% for sweetened or tonic carbonated drinks and 12% for sweetened non-carbonated drinks. Considering that the consumption of coffee is usually associated with sweeteners, there is a risk of excessive caffeine and caloric intake in a context where a lack of exercise predominates (59.98%) among respondents declaring that they do sports rarely or not at all, which can lead, in the long term, to the appearance of imbalances either of a psycho-emotional nature or of a metabolic nature. A significant link was found between sports activity and the environment in which they work (χ² = 51.33, p = 0.05). Respondents with a daily activity that involves movement (working outdoors, working on a construction site) are also those who usually do sports, while 60.67% of the respondents who work a lot in front of the computer declared that they do sports very rarely or not at all. Reducing the excessive consumption of sweetened drinks can be achieved through an appropriate consumption of water and fruits and by intensifying physical activity as a way of counterbalancing the excess caloric intake. Full article