From Awareness to Action: How Knowledge, Responsibility, and Environmental Attitudes Shape Ecological Behavior among Elementary Student

Abstract

Persistent environmental issues in Indonesia, such as waste accumulation and excessive energy consumption, highlight the need for early environmental education.  The Adiwiyata school program represents the government's initiative to integrate environmental learning with the educational setting.  The study examines the influence of environmental knowledge, awareness, responsibility, and attitudes on the ecological behavior of elementary student.  Using a cross-sectional design and a cluster random sampling technique, data were collected through self administered questionnaires from 207 elementary school student. Descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS, while Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed with SmartPLS.  The finding reveals that environmental responsibility significantly and positively affects environmental attitudes.  Furthermore, environmental knowledge, responsibility, and attitude exert a significant positive influence on ecological behavior.  The result suggest that fostering environmental awareness, responsibility, and affection for nature can effectively enhance ecological behavior among elementary student