The survey team of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society conducted a survey to identify consumption patterns, especially during Ramadan and special occasions, to measure general environmental awareness regarding the twelfth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals in the State of Kuwait. The team worked on collecting and analyzing data through social media programs on a random sample of 212 people participating in the study. The result was a similar percentage of females and males participating, with a percentage of 46% for males and 53% for females, at varying educational levels, mostly university graduates and holders of higher degrees.
Nawaf Al-Muwail, Programs Coordinator at the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Environmental Training at the Society, said, “The participation of Kuwaitis and residents in Kuwait was 751 TP3T, with the Kuwaitis comprising a percentage, and the rest being non-Kuwaitis residing in residential areas representing all governorates. Most of the participants were from Hawalli Governorate, followed by the Capital, Ahmadi, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Farwaniya, and lastly Jahra.” He added, “In previous studies, the results showed a high level of awareness of the correct methods for disposing of waste, and in this study, the results did not differ in the readings from previous studies conducted by the team over the past ten years.”.
Al-Muwail explained, “In the first question about where household waste is taken daily and how it is disposed of, the majority of 36% responses were ”I don’t know,’ followed by the lowest percentage, which was the correct answer: ‘It is taken to landfills.’ A large percentage, exceeding 18%, believed that the waste was burned in special shops. This answer is repeated in every study and indicates the great need for education and increased awareness about waste disposal and climate change issues, due to their connection to misconceptions among the public participating in the study sample.”.
He explained that “the penalty for littering in the Environmental Protection Law is a fine of no less than 50 dinars and no more than 500 Kuwaiti dinars, which was the correct answer for most participants, while a small number, not exceeding 20%, did not know the answer to this question, which indicates a high level of awareness of the Environmental Protection Law, which is one of the positive indicators that we always look for in such studies.” He pointed out that “one of the most prominent global projects currently is finding alternatives to throwing away food waste and reusing it in energy production or converting some of it into natural and organic fertilizer, and when participants were asked about their opinion on this technology specifically, approval was the most prevalent among all the other solutions presented.”.
Nawaf Al-Muwaile emphasized that “to address the problem of increased household waste, especially food scraps, the proposed solutions in the study received varying percentages. The first preferred solution was providing incentives and rewards for people to recycle some components of their household waste, which contributes to reducing it. This was followed by utilizing school curricula at all educational levels to spread environmental awareness about the importance of household waste management. Next came leveraging media and social media to spread environmental awareness, and finally, developing a plan at home to reduce consumption.” He noted that “in the question of budgeting for household needs, 45% have a specific budget for spending and purchasing, while 28% have no financial budget planning. Of those, 57% do not adhere to their spending and exceed their allocated budget. The issue of household waste management is considered important by the vast majority of participants (48%), who commit to spending within a specific budget to reduce waste production.”.
The program coordinator at the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Environmental Training at the Environment Society said, “I agree with collecting some food waste for use in animal feed (for example, farms or livestock pens). This explanatory statement was agreed upon by the majority of participants, regardless of the mechanism for collecting or distributing it. When participants were asked about placing surplus food in refrigerators near homes, nearly half of the participants strongly agreed, while only 5% strongly disagreed. They explained their reasons for this in the observations describing refrigerators in some residential areas as being neglected.” He considered that “the social, religious, and environmental responsibility in disposing of food waste received a very high percentage of attention from the participants, which indicates a high general awareness of responsibility. However, the majority contradicts this by increasing shopping expenses during occasions, especially Ramadan and Eid, by percentages exceeding 48%. This is one of the behaviors that we seek to study, understand its causes, and develop solutions and special programs to reduce it.”.
Nawaf Al-Muwaile continued, “The increased consumption and the need to dispose of leftover food and food scraps at events are also linked to an increase in household waste from other consumer goods such as bags, plates, and food packaging. This waste also increases and becomes difficult for consumers to sort and recycle, further exacerbating the overall waste volume.” He added, “The solutions proposed by participants to address food waste and surplus, especially in restaurants, at weddings, and during other events, were summarized by the working group as follows: the need for a community campaign to raise awareness about appreciating blessings and reminding people of their importance through social media and street billboards; activating the role of the Ministry of Religious Endowments in spreading religious awareness about the necessity of preserving blessings; and providing specialized entities to transport leftover food for use in producing organic fertilizers.”.
Al-Muwail concluded, “Other suggestions that were repeated include allocating containers for sorting waste in all residential neighborhoods, awareness campaigns in schools, programs that highlight the impact of surplus food on the environment, imposing fines for food waste or encouraging consumers to take leftover food from restaurants, having designated places to collect leftover food for use as organic fertilizer through investment by the state, enacting mandatory laws for recycling and designating designated places for collection, raising awareness about not wasting food through religious and community programs to change beliefs about consumption.”.
