That's an interesting discussion...I think it varies with the level of exposure along with the culture...the environment related concerns are increasing and every day we are exposed to some new report focusing on how difficult it would be to live after 25 years if we will continue dealing our surroundings with carelessness. We have to think about our future generations. So almost all the females get exposed and it is not necessarily related with the education as many females are now on social media like Facebook where such reports are abundant.

In my culture i.e. Pakistan females are supposed of play the role of care taking for the whole family especially the household related things including power, water and other sustainability related concerns. Like my mom always asked me to turn off light when I left the room but one of the major concern was energy saving and electricity bill.

But it also depends upon your religious affiliations as well...Like in Islam, we have a strong belief that we'll be held responsible for whatever we are bestowed with and it should not be taken for granted...Like with the passage of time I have become more conscious about my doings and I always use to teach my kids that how you are going to answer for every drop of water which you waste while taking a shower...or lots of kids around the globe even don't have sufficient water to drink and what you are doing...you are not supposed to throw garbage everywhere you want etc.

It depends upon the stage in your life cycle as well where you tend to get wise with the age or I would say when you want to raise your kids in a meaningful way so that they can prove themselves to be a better human being.

Yes, I think so.

An interesting question, a bit intriguing. Interesting scientific research can be carried out in this area. It seems to me that it may be so. Thanks to these differences, women and men can perfectly complement each other. But to make it happen, the most important issue is good and ongoing communication to minimize the risk of so-called "quiet days". I invite you to the discussion

Dr. Retter, you are really bringing an interesting topic for a debate in the RG forum. My impression is that we have to stay away from generalizations but in any case, introducing gender issues in the exploration of energy consumption patterns brings in a new dimension. Going one step further, in today's world of Big Data and IoT, relevant research can be performed to obtain, hopefully, some useful results.

Dariusz Prokopowicz

you said the question is "a bit intriguing", but it is only some humorous self-relativation, because the starting point of my statement is a personal experience, and in other families or partnerships you may have quite another situation. Anyway, in ours I am always the one who has to be told by my wife and earlier also by my - predominantly female - children how to behave environmentally consciously in daily life. I have also written essays about it, which are uploaded in RG.

At times the family was quite radical: they removed the dishwasher and washed dishes with warm water. Or they renounced the refrigerator and stored fruit and other supplies cool in the cellar, a potter's wheel was put in the free place for it, the children learned to make pottery. Then a spinning wheel was purchased and sheep wool was processed. There was so much that other people had that my family said: "We don't need it!"

After a few years the refrigerator was used again, but not the washing machine. We haven't had television since that time either, but many magazines, radio, video etc. There are so many other possibilities today... But everybody lives the way he thinks is right, there are no regulations for others. I find it very interesting in the "historical" review of my family, what we did at that time n order to lead a self-determined and environmentally conscious life. Today I can say that the children have inherited many things in their own families, for example a pronounced reading culture. In our case, it was preferably the female part of the family who set the course for environmentally conscious behaviour - the men had no time for this, but were willing to adapt.

Best, Hein Retter

Yongqing Dong

Thank you for your comment. I think that many readers of RG contributions could be curious about some nearer experiences with the question. If you like...

Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy

Dear Carlos, I have seen that you are at home in Madrid, but also work as an honorary professor in South America. It's really a coincidence that I have a granddaughter who, after graduating from high school, worked a year in a South American country in a social project there and now, after returning to Germany, is starting university studies. I think she has brought with her very important experiences that also concern environmental issues. That is why I find the international nature of the exchange on environmental issues very important. Because the people on our planet have very different living conditions. If one thinks, for example, of child labour in Peru or Bolivia and other unfavourable conditions in the lives of families, then you get a much deeper hold on your own life and its values - also with regard to environmental issues. Fortunately, in Europe we have had a tendency for 30 years now for young women to achieve higher and higher educational qualifications and to become politically and socially involved. This also benefits society's growing environmental awareness.

Best, Hein

Such concern seems to be universal among the women of the world. Conservation is the balance between man and land and women seem to contribute to the harmony more than men.

Reza Biria

I would like to agree with you, and I think that this view is by no means a reduction of the mental performance of men. They always make sure that there is something new in the world, and we have many examples of men, too, who make important decisions in organisations that work for the environment. However, I would not classify the current President of the United States in this category.

Dear Hein, Thank you so much for sharing your views on latin America with us. I feel very privileged having had professional and academic exposure to the Americas and I cannot help being extremely worried about the kind of leadership that two very important countries in that part of the world are undergoing. With Trump in the USA and more recently Bolsonaro in Brazil there many environmental aspects at stake and that is something that can reach global dimensions. Most likely, female political leaders would adopt a more harmonious approach.

I follow answers

best regards

Yes of course most women r conscious but sometimes completely opposite.

Be happy with ur wife.

Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy

Dear Carlos, thanks for your answer. Since a close relative was in Bolivia for a year to get involved in a social project after school, I know at least in hints that the conditions there are not very favourable for children of the inhabitants, and heavy child labour in certain areas is not unusual so that families can exist at all. I knew this from previous reports, but personal experience is much more lasting. So, if you have an essay or report from your field of work, I like to read it.

Kind regards, Hein

Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy

I should add: This is not about general principles of environmentally conscious behaviour, but about defending oneself against activities that seriously affect one's health. I assume that the role of women and mothers is more adapted to the existing situation than that I suspect radical female environmental activists.

Remi Okeke

Dear Remi, thank you very much for your comment. I can once more confirm: I have the same situation you said. I in this point am a bit proud of my family. The interest for environment-conscious behavior is perhaps more developed with daughters than with sons. I think it is a good sign, also for the education of the children.

Thanks, Hein

Halima Begum

Dear Halima, thank you very much for your comment. Your statement is very interesting when you say: women ar "sometimes completely opposite" - against their men or against environment-conscious behavior? Surely the circumstances of life play a role. Thanks, Hein

Usama Awan

I find your observation very important that young girls are more environmentally aware than older or married women. I have had a somewhat different experience in my family, but it is partly consistent with your statement: that young girls above a certain age are quite basically environmentally conscious behaviour of their parents, but here more of their brothers or father. I have also had the experience that the female part of the family is allied against the male part in such environmental issues if the father or the brothers show environmentally damaging behaviour, which sometimes happens, even out of carelessness.

You may also have a few examples that you have observed.

Best, hein

Dear Prof. Hein, this is a very interesting discussion indeed. It relates to findings of some studies we did in verifying 'Where do environmental and waste management values / habits are mainly formed during education in children?'. I personally have learned how to clean my room, support my mother in gardening, do composting and soil care, collecting bottles and used paper..., all from my mother! My father was usually at work and at the weekend cared more for other tasks and hobbies and left the duties related to 'social / family care' at home to my mother. I guess this general statement applies to many cultures. Woman stay(ed more in the past) at home and got much more concious about a healthy environment and related needs and tasks in the living place. This may be one reason that in many cases they (as mothers) pass on more strongly to their daugthers the awareness and duties to care for a 'healthy home' (e.g. cleanliness and efficient resources management). Later in my professional work I found the discrepancy between the 'opinion leaders' for the forming of environmental values in education and the daily habits / management in communities and schools. Waste management for example as supervisory function in many municipalities is dominated very strongly by man (mayor, city councilor, department head, driving crew, waste operations etc). So they (man) become responsible for the planning and management of the local municipal waste management system. This means they design the future, but in their program you will hardly find that they strongly link to mothers. Similarly we found that many schools (in the Philippines) proudly design a waste management pilot program. A specially assigned teacher sets up a waste segregation pilot project at a central place of the school to showcase how waste should be segregated, but in the classrooms and at the toilets you would only find a one-bin system (mostly hidden behind the door or in a corner). Often this specially assigned teacher does not link the program to the daily implementers, e.g. the school janitor and the women who run the cantine, and also not the mothers of the school kids. This means that the children have to follow and understand +3 opinions, namely a) at the class following the lead teacher, b) outside the classroom following the janitor and or other adults such as cantine staff and c) at home following the mother respectively older siblings and home systems. I perceive that the home system may be the strongest as "opinion leader", since it is often also coupled with religious values. The latter may also be intersting to look into as well. What tasks are given to woman (in relation to men) related to their responsibilities for a healthy environment at home? I assume that in many cultures 'Mothers' are made more responsible for all kind of homecare and that this may be one of the causes resulting in the phenomena you describe that "woman also need to remind their husbands to behave envrionmental correct and sustainable at home". As my mother always used to say after we kids were all out of home: "Now I have only one child left, and that is your daddy my son" (-:

Johannes Paul

Dear Colleague, thank you very much for your detailed answer. This excellent report is truly remarkable because it combines personal experience with the general concern of our society to achieve an environmentally conscious life. And last but not least: as a factor of socialisation at home, a family in which children play a role. Of course, the example of the Philippines is also very interesting. I have experienced similar situations in Japan as you have described: My first lecture trip to Japan took place with the help of the DAAD in 1980. I saw two schoolgirls sitting on the stairs at an exit of the Tokyo/Shinjuku rail. They had a Rubik cube in their hands and tried to find the solution. I was amazed at how quickly the cube, which Rubik had just invented, reached Japan. It was also a new experience that in the big department stores at the bottom of the escalator there were 2 young ladies who only had to clean the right and left handrails with a cloth after customers had used the escalator. Here's the cleanest place. But not where the public sphere of a square does not fall within the remit of personal order. There is a greater break between the anonymous public sphere, in which people, even if they stand close to you in a mass, do not feel responsible don't feel responsible for environment, in opposite to private, commercial and even school-public institutions. My impression is that things are "cleaner" in Japan than in many other Asian countries. But it is much more difficult to create an environmental awareness that refers to an anonymous common good. I don't know what that's like today, but tradition is a much more long-lived factor there. - And, as you can now see, my question here generates little international resonance. But the discussions on Researchgate are all the more intense about what RG-users did last weekend or which color they prefer.

Many thanks and all the best.

Hein Retter

That's an interesting discussion...I think it varies with the level of exposure along with the culture...the environment related concerns are increasing and every day we are exposed to some new report focusing on how difficult it would be to live after 25 years if we will continue dealing our surroundings with carelessness. We have to think about our future generations. So almost all the females get exposed and it is not necessarily related with the education as many females are now on social media like Facebook where such reports are abundant.

In my culture i.e. Pakistan females are supposed of play the role of care taking for the whole family especially the household related things including power, water and other sustainability related concerns. Like my mom always asked me to turn off light when I left the room but one of the major concern was energy saving and electricity bill.

But it also depends upon your religious affiliations as well...Like in Islam, we have a strong belief that we'll be held responsible for whatever we are bestowed with and it should not be taken for granted...Like with the passage of time I have become more conscious about my doings and I always use to teach my kids that how you are going to answer for every drop of water which you waste while taking a shower...or lots of kids around the globe even don't have sufficient water to drink and what you are doing...you are not supposed to throw garbage everywhere you want etc.

It depends upon the stage in your life cycle as well where you tend to get wise with the age or I would say when you want to raise your kids in a meaningful way so that they can prove themselves to be a better human being.

Current studies concerning women indicate that they greatly differ from men in most aspects of life. Concerning concerns about the environment, women have outrun men in both degree and intensity of their interests about nature. Of course, such tendencies may be culture bound because cultural legacies are powerful forces. They have deep roots and persist generation after generation. In certain cultures, it seems that caring for the environment and ecological issues play a significant role in directing attitudes and behavior among women compared to men. What is certain, we cannot make sense of our world without them.

Usama Awan

Thank you for your answer, I hope that we now, after some time has been gone, to come to a good discussion

Reza Biria

Thank you for your detailed answer, and your hints that there is a special interest in this question of active environmental awareness among women. I also notice this in my own family.

Javaria Abbas, I feel that this is a wonderful answer that I would not have thought possible from Pakistan. The media gives the impression that the country and its people are suffering from many problems. And of course it is something special when such a wise and reasoned answer comes from a woman and not from the male side, which often dominates women. I am impressed. Perhaps there will be another discussion - I had some doubts at the beginning - in which we can discuss individual points, but first of all thank you very

These are due to individual nature. I think such attitudes have no relation with gender.

In Kolkata, my city, ladies are more eager to use plastic packets individually for different items during marketing and casually throw them in the dustbin or in the drain. But such vice may be due to traditional practice.

Consciousness develops through self-education only. I think is has no relation with gender.

Thanks.

Hello, The environmental movement also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources and stewardship of the environment through changes in public policy and individual behavior. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in not enemy of ecosystems, the movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights. In this area may be woman can be more representative.

I think it depends on individual character. I think women are conscious about their immediate environment than men.

Interesting contributions by respected colleagues.

It depends on the mentality of the individual. Sex has nothing to do with the thinking for environment. Yes, exposure, awareness and education will definitely influence it.

Yes in many situations we found that men and women have different views of their surrounding environment and generally women are more concious about the discuss topic.

Hi all, this is a very interesting discussion.

I believe women are more radical because they live under pressure every time. That's why they act like that: in response to years of pressure to be fair, correct, and with the effort to be environmentally conscious.

Best regards,

Rafael Rocha

Interesting views by respected colleagues on this discussion

Hein Retter

I am glad that I have contributed a bit in changing your perception about Pakistan in general and Pakistani Females in particular. Its been long since I have stopped trusting media for everything they report and most of the times fabricate...

By the grace of Allah, Pakistan is bestowed with the abundance of natural resources, four weathers, scenic beauty which you can now see as well as recently new government has taken solid steps to promote tourism by offering e visa facility...We are not always surrounded by problems..Though literacy rate is bit low but we are very generous and hospitable nation...Pakistan was troubled with corrupt leaders but now it has started changing since our PM Imran Khan. You can find multiple videos on the natural beauty of Pakistan as well as its individuals including females as well who are doing wonders in various fields.

Regarding our discussion...I can always help you in getting multiple insights from a number of females from Pakistan including educated and semi educated, and it will definitely add value to a much needed and diversified research...Yes we are not far behind the modern world :) Feel free to discuss all the points to clarify any of your doubts ..You are always welcome...Wish you good luck