Student participation in the separation of household waste using the health promoting school approach

Today, recycling is considered an effective method in waste management. Considering the importance of separation of waste at source in the recycling process, the present study aimed at examining the separation at source education for students given their important role in the society .This study examined the effect of peer-based education on the students’ participation in recycling at source in an Iranian city.This study was a clinical trial. The randomized multi-stage cluster sampling was used here. Among all the schools in the city, 4 were randomly selected, and students in the two schools (n=206) were assigned to the experimental group, whereas students in the other two schools (n=207) were assigned to the control group. Health promotion program included seven sessions of classroom instruction that was conducted in collaboration with peer educators along with a number of side events such as crafting, painting, and recycling road game. Recycling bins were then placed in the school. Students in the experimental group were practically trained how to separate waste in the school, Also worked as green protectors in the form of supervisors and consultants. A researcher-made questionnaire that included questions on awareness, attitude, performance, and participation in the recycling at source process was used for data collection. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were assessed in this study. The questionnaire was completed by the students in both groups before and one month after the intervention. Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 using. Results showed no significantdifference between the intervention and control groups in terms of mean scores of awareness, attitude, performance and participation of students before the intervention. However, the mean scores were significantly increased after the intervention (p<0.001). After the intervention, 94% of students practiced recycling in school.Results showed that the use of peer-based health promotion intervention effectively promotes the performance and participation in recycling at source.

Keywords:

Education , Recycling at source , Peers , Participation , Students