Plastic Consumption in Group of Teens and Young Adults from Pangandaran District, Indonesia: A Glimpse of Environmental Awareness among the Locals outside Big Cities

Abstract

In this research we tried to get an understanding of plastic consumption behavior in a relatively remote area, Pangandaran district Indonesia, especially on teens and young adults to evaluate their environmental awareness. Volunteers were asked to note down their plastic consumption for over 31 days and differentiate it in three different types of plastic waste that are plastic bottles, plastic bags, and plastic packaging. Results showed that plastic consumption in teens and young adults of the Pangandaran District is still inevitable although they are already exposed to the knowledge of plastic waste impacts. The usage accounted for up to 5 plastics per day. A fluctuating pattern of plastic used was found predominantly for three types of plastic waste with the plastic packaging topping the consumption, followed by the plastic bottle and plastic bag. We hypothesized that the idea of plastic detrimental effects is already known in the group, however the plastic consumption still an unavoidable option since there is no choice and straight law enforcement in the district. This putting the teens and young adults of Pangandaran District at the conscious incompetence category, according to the psychological theory of competence.