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IS URBAN RECYCLING AN URBAN LEGEND? 1

Is Urban Recycling an Urban Legend?

Elissa Casey

ENC 1102- U66

Professor Marlen E. Harrison


Abstract

The mix of cultural backgrounds in Miami is not typically considered in relation to recycling

habits in the city, but it should be. This is due to the fact that cultural backgrounds form the

ideals and values of an individual, and that these values may cause an individual to participate in

recycling to a different extent (Karp, 1996). This study sought to examine the previous

phenomenon using an online survey distributed to 50 individuals in the Miami-Dade area. The

40 American-born respondents are used as a baseline, and the 10 immigrant survey-takers are the

focus of this study. Their responses revealed that country of origin is not the primary influence

on recycling, although, in combination with age and adaptability, it does play a role in affecting

participation.


Is Urban Recycling an Urban Legend?

There was once a time when recycling peaked in popularity. During this time, recycling

campaigns boasted advertisements and reminders galore. Unfortunately, public attention of this

sort has drastically declined in recent years. This is especially true in Miami, where recycling

rates were never particularly high to begin with. There are many factors influencing this low rate,

but the cultural diversity of Miami-Dade County is one which has yet to be thoroughly studied.

Cultural diversity should be studied in relation to recycling due to the fact that behaviors are a

result of instilled values, and in other countries, conservation values may not be emphasized in

the same way that they are in America. By contrast, conservation values could instead be

reinforced more in foreign countries. These ideas are paramount the current study, which

attempts to illustrate a link between country of origin and recycling habits. This link can lead to

improvements in environmental policy in the Miami-Dade area, enhance understanding of

environmental practices in other countries, and may spark dialogue about how to make recycling

more prevalent in this county. In order to highlight the above relation, this study used an online

survey to collect unique and qualitative responses.

In the following pages, this study first introduces past literature to preface the study and

moves on to explain the survey used. The results from the survey are stated plainly next,

followed by an explanation of these numbers. After this, the implications, limitations and

suggestions are discussed in the concluding section.

Literature Review

For the purposes of this research paper, it is beneficial to discuss background information

of on a couple of topics. Necessary information includes influences on recycling behaviors,


demographics of Miami, recycling participation in Miami-Dade County and participation across

the country, as well as the history of recycling in Cuba. This literature review will compile

attitudes on recycling and why some populations do or do not recycle.

Examination of Influences on Recycling

Many studies have been conducted to discover factors which contribute to better

recycling practices in American cities. One such study which analyzes statewide data to

determine recycling participation at the community level in Massachusetts, and introduces two

factors that influence recycling. They cite socio-economic status and state-wide policies as two

main reasons and conclude with a statement that is promising with regards to this study:

Other results, such as the significant parameters for housing, age, population, and

community classification, suggest that the set of demographic factors influencing

recycling may be more extensive than originally theorized. (Callan & Thomas, 1997)

Building on the study by Callan and Thomas, this current research intends to delve into the

aforementioned ‘demographic factors’ and hopefully add to the understanding of recycling as a

function of cultural attitudes. Along these lines is a study that used a sample of 410 Hispanic-

American Students to research conservation of household utilities. The above research by Segev

found that collectivism -the shared values among a cultural group of people- positively affected

water and electricity conservation (Segev, 2015). The premise of the study by Segev is close to

this current study’s thesis, but not the same. This current research differs in that it focuses on

recycling habits as opposed to utility conservation. The above study is not alone in looking at

ethnicity with respect to environmental aspects. A 2017 study looks at the difference in the way

that Americans and South Koreans perceive environmental advertising. They found that


Americans are more receptive to messages that include the words could, might, and ought;

meanwhile, South Korean participants showed no reaction to differing word choice (Baek, Yoon

& Coi, 2017). The results of the study by Baek, Yoon & Choi will not correlate to the results of

this study, because they focus on advertising and South Korean origin; whereas, this study looks

at participation and does not expect to have a large amount of South Korean participants.

Possibly the study with the closest thesis to this current study is by Williams & Clark, conducted

in 2006. Although it is considered out-of-date, it is included in the literature review due to the

similarity in theory. The study by William & Clark looks at a borough in England to discover if

the large Asian-British population there has impacted the recycling in the area. They use a survey

of 360 households in the area. Similar to rates in Miami, the rates of recycling in their borough

was also half of the national average. They found that attitudes among the Asian-British

population were no different from attitudes of the population as a whole (Martin, Williams &

Clark, 2006). Although this may seem discouraging, this current study is quite different because

it looks at first generation immigrants to the Miami-Dade area, which is a cultural mix very

different from Asian-British subjects. The final study that could be found relating culture to the

environment is by Nguyen, Lobo & Greenland and took place in 2017. It focuses on ‘green

purchase behavior’ and the Vietnamese culture. They found that consumers who adhere more

closely to the values of their culture, make more environmentally friendly purchases (Nguyen,

Lobo & Greenland, 2017). Their findings do not overlap with the expected findings from this

study, because Nguyen, Lobo and Greenland look at a different culture and focus on consumer

behavior, not recycling habits; however, it is still useful to include because it is a study that

followed the premise that collectivism within a culture may differentiate them from other

cultures. Moving on from cultural influence, a study called Influences on Attitude-Behavior


Relationships: A Natural Experiment with Curbside Recycling found that actual behavior is a

combination of the effects of external conditions and internal values (Guagnano, Stern & Dietz,

1995). Due to the fact that the external conditions of other countries are different than those in

America, and internal values instilled may also differ, Guagnano et al. may have uncovered

evidence that growing up in a foreign country and absorbing foreign environmental values may

culminate in different actual behavior than that of American-born residents. To contradict the

above study, Homer and Kahle (1998) found that when it comes to health food purchases and

attitudes, values did not have a direct relationship with behavior. Another study in 1994 took this

into account and researched the influence of values on attitudes and behaviors with respect to

recycling. As a result, they found that values did not directly influence behavior, but did directly

affect attitudes. (McCarthy & Shrum, 1994). This is an interesting counterpoint to the majority of

studies published, although it is out of date, and most likely been revisited. Attitudes and values

aside, another fundamental influence on recycling is convenience, or lack thereof. As outlined by

a study in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, convenient recycling

programs greatly boosted recycling activity for all materials studied. They found the probability

that the average household would recycle 95 percent of their glass and plastic products increased

by more than 50 percent when the most convenient recycling program was implemented

(Jenkins, Martinez & Palmer, 2003). There have been many studies that have demonstrated

agreement with this. A 2018 study carries out two field tests in a residential area, finding that

recycling increased by 147% for containers and 137% for paper. (DiGiacomo, Lenkic, Fraser,

Zhao, & Kingstone, 2018). This is a drastic increase, which could point out that convenience

may be a much stronger influence than culture -foreshadowing the fact that other factors may

outweigh culture. Another significant influence on recycling habits is adaptability. In a 2017


study by Poškus & Žukauskienė, it was found that the qualities of being young and easily

adaptable, were the two characteristics most influential on recycling habits. Their study pointed

out that these two factors together increased recycling habits (Poškus & Žukauskienė, 2017).

Their findings can be useful in reference to this study, because it is very likely that participants in

this study will be young, and therefore, adaptable. When considering if immigrants will continue

their previous recycling habits after moving to America, it is important to consider adaptability.

A study in June of 2015 found that adaptability yields a strong positive effect on environmental

attitudes. Those researchers used a survey of more than 2000 Australian adolescents to look at

personality and adaptability as it relates to their opinions on environmental issues. They found

that the adaptability trait led to higher levels of awareness, concern, and participation in

environmental activism (Liem & Martin, 2015). This current study acknowledges the effects of

adaptability on activism habits, but expects that immigrants may have less adaptability, which

may manifest in higher or lower levels of activism in their homes. In order to identify more

influences on recycling habits, a study of Greek household recycling data by Botetzagias, Dima,

and Maleslos is useful. They found that moral norms were the largest and most prominent factor

when it comes to recycling behaviors. In explaining their results, the researchers refer to the

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) which is a prominent explanation for environmental activism

behaviors. The Theory of Planned Behavior lays out ‘attitude’, ‘subjective norms’ and ‘perceived

behavioral control’ as the main three factors that control goal-oriented activities (Botetzagias,

Dima & Maleslos, 2015). For the purposes of this study, the ‘subjective norms’ pillar of TPB is

most important. The term ‘subjective norms’ refers to the pressures of ones’ culture. This

phenomenon can be seen around the country, where the interaction of ideals and infrastructure

create the reality of recycling. The strong influence of internal values is a cornerstone to this


study of recycling within Miami because the city is a cultural melting pot, and if each culture

places importance on different values, then this could be a reason that recycling has faltered.

Exactly how far behind has Miami fallen when it comes to recycling? The next section will

clarify this.

Recycling Rates in Miami & America

The recycling rates in Miami Dade county are currently one of the lowest in the state, let-

alone the country. An average of only 18 percent of household waste is recycled. This is low

even in comparison to other counties in Southern Florida such as Palm Beach and Broward

which each double Miami-Dade’s rate (Quintana, 2018). There is no common metric for

measuring household waste recycled, and each county has a different system for collecting and

accounting for this waste. Because of this, simply reviewing the raw data from each state does

not tell the whole story. A study which used a nation-wide survey to unify the varying methods

of analysis on recycling found that 28 percent of Americans agree that their community strongly

encourages recycling and re-use, whereas 22 percent say that locally, recycling is not

encouraged, and the remaining ~50 percent find themselves in the middle of these two extremes

(DeSilver, 2016). Hopefully this current survey will lend to understanding where on this

spectrum those living in Miami-Dade fall. In order to predict the outcome of this survey of

heritage in relation to recycling, the demographics of the survey will be important. To discover

which groups will most likely make up the majority of survey takers, the demographics of Miami

are important to be familiar with.

Demographics of Miami


The following information is derived from the most recent American census. It was found

that Miami-Dade country consists of a staggering 52.9 percent foreign born persons and a

Hispanic/Latino population of 68.6 percent. The ethnic/national origins of Miami were also

broken down in this census. Cubans made up 34.1 percent of the population, followed by the

Nicaraguan, Haitian, Honduran, Dominican, and Colombian populations, respectively. (U.S.

Census Bureau, 2010). Due to the large population of Cubans in Miami, it will benefit this

cultural study to examine the history of environmental practices in Cuba.

Overview of Environmental Practices in Cuba

During the expansion of the Cuban population, the island underwent rapid urbanization. This

led to an increase in waste per household, with very little infrastructure to process it. Although

solid waste management is of priority to the country Cuba, there has been trouble developing

measures to safely dispose waste. As cited in the 2002 study “Cuba’s social services”, the 1959

revolution and establishment of communist government created a structure where the

government is entirely responsible for creating a countrywide recycling system. This being a

nearly impossible task to manage, they lacked in this aspect until around 1997 when outbreaks of

Dengue fever and leptospirosis affected the island, causing public health services to amplify their

efforts to keep Cuba clean. At this time, the country was still developing, and there were a few

factors influencing the success of green practices in Cuba. A deficit in environmental education,

lack of waste sector regularity and reliability, along with lack of material resources and

infrastructure needed to build a successful waste management sector were the main factors

discovered (Schleenstein, 2002). Eventually, citizens of the island adapted to the poor federal

support by creating individualized disposal strategies. For example, 40% of households were

found to recycle organic waste by feeding it to animals likes pigs and the majority of households


stored plastic, aluminum, and glass until they could be collected. Another interesting factor

discovered by the study “Cuba’s social services” is the income of each household. It was found

that households with higher income recycled with much greater frequency. This is a trend which

continued into modern-day Cuban environmental practices. It was found that an informational

campaign or adjustment of collection schedules will lead modern-day Cubans to be more

committed to recycling. This information points out that the Cuban immigrants in Miami-Dade

County may already be receptive to recycling, but may not be accustomed to the county-wide

structure.

The above studies can be synthesized to use as background in this research paper, but there is

still a gap in the data. It has been sparsely studied the relation of culture and recycling habits.

This is especially true in the Miami Dade area, where a large population of immigrants come

together and there are many different cultural influences on recycling. This survey intends to

discover if other countries recycling positively or negatively influences recycling in America.

It is also important to mention that the date published is another gap in the foundation of research

on recycling. Most of the research relating to recycling participation is outdated by scientific

standards. This is because the majority of research on household recycling took place around the

time that curbside recycling was implemented (close to 1997) and afterward, it seems that

research on household recycling has declined. This current study adds to the literature on

recycling perceptions and habits simply by virtue of being current.

Methods

This study attempted to link importance of cultural values, the Theory of Planned

Behavior, and demographics in Miami to actual recycling behaviors in Miami Dade county. In


order to do this, online surveys were made on the platform Qualtrics and distributed to

individuals in the Miami-Dade area. The survey was live for two weeks and yielded 50 total

participants all within the 18-22 age range and 10 of which declared themselves to be first

generation immigrants. This survey was the most effective method because it could be easily

distributed to a large population. In addition, surveys eliminate convenience bias because they

can be given to a person regardless of the physical proximity to the distributor. Another reason

that surveys are being used is to obtain the qualitative information needed for the study. Surveys

are a platform where the researcher can develop their own unique questions instead of relying on

past data from other studies. Qualtrics survey maker was used in this study to develop unique

questions, both multiple choice or free response. The platform is also beneficial because it allows

for logic to be weaved into the surveys. After the statement of informed consent, the survey

began by asking if the participant is an immigrant. If they answer yes, they are directed to a

string of questions which ask their country of origin, recycling attitudes within that country, as

well as recycling behaviors there. If a participant selects no, they will skip this string and begin

by answering the block of questions about their environmental attitudes and behaviors in

America. This block of questions will also be given to those who selected yes when asked if they

were an immigrant, after they answer the first block of questions. The survey finishes with a

comment box so that the participants can insert any additional thoughts they feel are relevant. As

mentioned before, the informed consent is placed before the survey. It is written as follows:

This survey intends to discover if there may be a link between heritage and recycling

behaviors. All responses recorded will remain anonymous and have no use outside of this

study. In addition, this survey is optional. There are no consequences for choosing not to


complete the study and you may stop at any time. If there are any questions at all, feel

free to contact me at [email protected].

If a respondent declines to take the survey by selecting ‘Decline to Continue’ after reading the

informed consent, their response will not be counted. The total viable responses have been

organized and analyzed. Around 60 responses were recorded, but 50 are usable. A link to the

survey is embedded below to conclude this section.

https://fiu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iD20Gaft7n7cep

Results

It would be most clear to delve into this analysis methodically, working one question at a

time. Subtitles are used to specify the block of questioning being explained. The questionnaire

began by asking participants if they were immigrants to the United States. 35 percent of

participants (19 participants) declared themselves immigrants and the other 65 percent stated that

they were not. It is important to note that of those who stated they were immigrants, only 10

went on to specify their country of origin. Six participants immigrated from Cuba, three from

Venezuela, and one from Jamaica. This means that the responses of those who are marked as

immigrants can only be attributed to these three countries. These ten individuals entered the

block of questioning for immigrants only.

Recycling in Countries of Origin – Immigrant Respondents Only

The survey moved on to question these ten about their recycling habits in their country of

origin. The majority (6 participants) cited that they recycled household waste rarely, while two

participants cited that they recycled often and two said that they did not recycle. None of these

respondents declared that they recycled daily. When asked if they believed that others in that

https://fiu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iD20Gaft7n7cep


country recycled equally as often as them, 50 percent of participants said yes. One participant

cited that others recycled more than them, two declared that others recycled less and the

remaining two respondents declared that others did not seem to recycle at all. In the next

question, the survey asked about respondents’ attitude towards recycling in their country of

origin. Six of the ten respondents claimed that recycling is important, but hard. The other 4 were

evenly split between the responses: “Recycling is Important and Easy” and “Recycling is

Unnecessary and Difficult”. This line of questioning led into the next prompt: Do you believe

you have maintained the same recycling habits after moving to America? The responses were

fairly evenly split on this question. Around half stated that they recycle the same and the other

half claimed to be recycling more. These are the two responses that were expected when creating

this survey, although it was considered that in the transition from some countries, recycling in

America could be harder. This concluded the block of questions for immigrants only.

Recycling in America – All Respondents

The pool of respondents is now a total of 40. The first question in this next block asks about the

current recycling habits of participants. 37.5 percent of respondents say they recycle daily and

the same amount say they recycle often. 17.5 percent say they recycle rarely and 7.5 percent say

they do not recycle at all. When asked their attitude on recycling, 70 percent of respondents say

that recycling is important and easy, while the remaining 30 percent believe that recycling is

important, but difficult. When asked to compare the perceived habits of others to their own

habits, the majority (56.4 percent) of respondents declared that they believe others recycled less

than themselves. The next largest group (28 percent of participants) recorded that they believe

others recycle the same amount as them, and around 15 percent of survey takers believed that

others recycle more than themselves. From this block, we can conclude that the majority of our


respondents recycle often, believe that recycling is important and easy, and think that others

recycle less than themselves. Responses left in the comment box were very scattered and only a

few were useful. The useful responses are evaluated in the discussion section below.

Discussion

Due to the small scope of the survey, no solid conclusions can be drawn from the small

sample of participants, but connections and correlations can be found. In calculating the ration of

immigrant to American respondents, the information does not vary from what was expected; a

significant portion of the survey-takers are immigrants, whereas in other American cities, this

percent is typically much smaller. To sum up the meaning of the responses with respect to our

countries of focus, the majority of participants recycled rarely there, believed that others in that

country recycled the same way, and held the belief that recycling is important, yet difficult. By

contrast, the significant percentages from the recycling in America portion show that most

people here recycle to some extent, and the minority do not recycle at all. It is surprising to see

that almost 8 percent of participants never recycling, and very important to notice that none of

this 8 percent were immigrants. When looking at the responses of the immigrants in the

American recycling section, it is clear that the frequency of their recycling has increased. The

summarizations of responses to each question show a shift in habits after transitioning to Miami.

This shift is in contrast to what was expected when formulating this research topic. The premise

of this topic is that beliefs and therefore practices regarding recycling would not change upon

immigration. Instead, this small survey showed that our immigrants adapted to recycling in

Miami, which may assist in disproving the connection between heritage and recycling habits.

This outcome is consistent with the 2006 study by Martin, Williams, and Clark which found that

the small Asian population in a British suburb did not hold drastically different beliefs about


recycling, but simply recycled less because it was more difficult for them. A possible reason for

this outcome in the current survey is that all participants were students at Florida International

University, and therefore, young. With youth comes adaptability, and it is possible that they were

able to shift their attitude about recycling because they immigrated at a young age. This aligns

with the 2015 study by Liem and Martin which cites youth and adaptability as two key

influences when it comes to recycling behaviors. In fact, one of the participants commented:

My parents are immigrants. It took some convincing to get my family to start recycling (I

did [this] when I was in 6th grade), but now it’s a habit for all of us and it is super easy.

This lends to the belief that older generations may not be a readily adaptable to new attitudes

about recycling. The ten participants from Cuba, Venezuela, and Jamaica cited that it was

difficult to recycle in these countries and that they did so rarely, which contrasts from the

majority of respondents who selected that recycling was easy in America and that they do so

often. Interestingly enough, survey takers declared that, in America, it seems that others recycle

less than them; whereas, our Cuban, Venezuelan and Jamaican survey-takers believed that others

in these countries seemed to recycle the same as them.

Conclusion

Could there be a link between the recycling rates in Miami and the cultural origins of its

citizens? This research concludes that it is possible that there may be a link; however, the data

does not show that immigrants to Miami carry over recycling habits from their countries of

origin. Instead, it can be concluded that our sample of young immigrants shifted their recycling

behavior in adjustment to life in Miami-Dade County. This sample size is too small to


definitively draw any conclusions, but they indicate that further research into this topic may be

worth-while.

In future studies, the survey should utilize language that more specifically asks about their

cultural backgrounds and how they affect their recycling habits. Specifically, questions asking

about the convenience of recycling should be eliminated because it adds another factor, taking

away from the cultural aspect. Future surveys should also ask how long the individual has been

living in America, to account for why an individuals’ attitudes may be changed or not. This study

could be expanded on in general to include not only immigrants, but those who have spent time

living in other countries.

This study does not account for the difference that the aforementioned may make on an

individuals’ attitudes and habits. It would also be fruitful to include not only a larger sample size,

but also a greater range of age groups in future studies, because results from this survey seem to

indicate that older generations have more trouble adjusting their environmental attitudes.

Evidence of this is found in the qualitative response from a participant (of a younger generation)

who was able to easily recycle after moving to Miami, but found trouble convincing the older

generations with whom they immigrated, to start the same habits. It seems that, although cultural

influence may be a factor of recycling habits, other influences such as infrastructure and

accessibility seem to play a greater role. In this study, they overshadow the influence that culture

may have on recycling. This may be in part, due to the age of the participants of this study.

Despite these limitations, this survey should not be discarded.

It should remain significant to literature on recycling because it supports previous studies

which cite infrastructure and accessibility as the main influences. This emphasis on convenience

leads to the call to improve county-wide infrastructure. Local governments will be impacted by


debating how to do this, and government workers will feel the effects, as they will be the ones to

carry out the work. It should be used as reference in future research into older generation’s

opinions on recycling. In addition, this study is of use to many groups of people. Environmental

policy makers and those studying environmental policy will find this study useful. Miami-Dade

County government could benefit from this study, by being able to better suit the recycling

policies of the county to the mindsets of those living here. Individuals studying Caribbean

cultures can reference this study to see the Caribbean culture’s attitudes on recycling.

Psychologists can reference this study when researching the connection between culture and

behavior. American relations researchers will benefit from this work as well. Overall, this study

served to indicate that, although cultural origin may be a factor of recycling behavior in Miami-

Dade County, it is not the most influential factor and is overshadowed by others such as policy

and age.

For further information on recycling trends by region in America, follow the link below,

https://www.biocycle.net/images/art/1010/bc101016_s.pdf

https://www.biocycle.net/images/art/1010/bc101016_s.pdf


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Audience Awareness Checklist

1) Who is your target audience of readers? List 2-3 journals or academic conferences

where you would realistically share your paper (this defines the audience). Why these

audiences?

a) Journal of Environmental Planning and Management – those who read this study are most

likely environmental planners, and will benefit from knowing if areas will more cultural diversity

recycle better or worse and how they feel about it.

b) Inter-American Dialogue – the transfer of values from Latin-American countries to this North-

American city is a reoccurring theme throughout the text, making it relevant for this journal.

c) Environment and Behavior – in this study is a broader discussion of influences on behaviors

with respect to the environment, so it would fit perfectly in the journal and be relevant to this

audience.

2)List some information related to your topic that you can assume your audience will

already be familiar with such that you did not need to provide great detail. (You simply

mentioned and cited research on this info rather than actually discussed, quoted, and/or

explained it).

I can assume that the audience already knows the definition of recycling. As experts in

environmental studies, this is safe to assume. In addition, the history of recycling is America is

widely known and does not need to be touched on.


3)List some information that you feel your audience may not be as familiar with that you

needed to provide ample detail about. This is information that may not be shared in

articles or presentations typically encountered by your target audience.

It seems reasonable to not expect the audience to be aware of a list of past studies on

environmental behaviors and because it is the most relevant to the research, many were included.

The history of recycling in Cuba as another topic that the audience may not be familiar with. In

addition, it seemed relevant to include the demographics and recycling metrics of Miami-Dade

County because these are numbers that even researchers in the environmental field won’t know

off the top of their heads.

Introduction Checklist

1) What is the major research question/argument this paper is responding to?

The paper proposes that cultural diversity should be studied in relation to environmental

behaviors. It asks if heritage plays a role in influencing recycling at the home level.

Where do you explicitly state this?

This is explicitly stated in the introduction paragraph, in the 5th line.

2) What is the significance/purpose of this question/argument (who cares)? In other

words, why is this important/interesting/useful?

The significance of this topic is in the environmental field as well as the legislative field. It

matters to those trying to make environmental policy or study behaviors of Miami-Dade citizens.

It can also improve understanding of environmental policy in other countries.



This is explicitly stated in directly after the thesis, in the last few sentences of the introduction.

3)What do we know about this topic? In other words, what are some of the major

conversations we can find about your topic in peer-reviewed journals and other relevant

scholarship? Even if your topic is not specifically written about, how about discussions of

your chosen phenomena, methods, concepts, theories, etc?

There is a lot of discussion and research about factors that influence recycling behavior. Socio-

economic status, statewide policy, convenience, collectivism, attitudes, and adaptability have all

been cited as reasons why an individual may or may not participate in environmentally friendly

behavior. There have been studies which look at heritage with respect to environmental attitudes,

but none look at Miami-Dade, none focus on household recycling and none are recent.


This can be found in the literature review section. Under the heading “Examination on Influences

on Recycling” is where most of the above information is.

4)What/how will this paper contribute to the existing academic conversations mentioned

above? How is it responding to a gap and thereby a beneficial project?

This paper will give insight as to whether being an immigrant leads to a different mindset on

recycling, which is a concept that has yet to be studied. As mentioned before, all similar research

endeavors have been focused on different areas, or different aspects of environmental attitudes

(such as susceptibility to advertising or energy conservation), which allows this research to stand

out. It fills the gap by looking at a link that has yet to be researched. In addition, the relevant

research on the subject is mostly outdated, allowing this research to fill the gap solely for being

recent.



This is explicitly stated many times in the “Examination of Influences” section of the literature

review, in the beginning of the introduction and the end of the abstract. There are also 2

paragraphs explaining this at the end of the literature review section.

5)What are the major contents of the paper beyond the intro?

This paper claims to include past literature, an explanation of the survey used, results

from the survey, a discussion of results and conclusion.

Where do you explicitly state this (forecasting section)?

This is explicitly stated in the forecasting section, which is the last paragraph before the

literature review.

Background Info Checklist

1)What is your method of organization in this section of the paper and why did you

organize the info in this manner?

This section is divided into 4 sections using subtitles, and introduced by a single

paragraph.

What are the major sections of this part of the paper?

a) Examination of Influences on Recycling

b) Recycling Rates in Miami & America

c) Demographics of Miami


d) Overview of Environmental Practices in Cuba

2)How do you explicitly transition from one major section to another?

The major sections are indicated by subtitles and also foreshadowed by a few sentences in the

section prior.

3)How does the information you provide in each section supportively respond to your thesis

question/argument?

a) Background information on factors affecting recycling is important because it can give insight

as to whether or not culture should be studied.

b) Recycling rates in Miami and America should be touched on solely to show the need for a

study of this type. Hopefully, it will help lead to policies which improve the recycling.

c) Demographics of Miami hint at which groups of immigrants will be most prevalent in the

survey

d) Environmental practices in Cuba are included because the majority of immigrants in Miami

are Cuban. Understanding recycling in Cuba can assist in understanding the mentality of Cuban

immigrants towards recycling.

4)What are the major themes you discussed in this section?

The major themes include environmental behaviors and attitudes, collectivism, activism

motivation, and the cultural base in Miami.

5)How did you establish the major gap in the existing research? Where do you explain

that?


The major gap was established throughout the literature review, as well as at the end of the

literature review in 2 separate paragraphs. It was explained plainly in those two paragraphs.

When mentioned inside the literature review, it was explained by contrasting this study to

previous studies.

Methods Checklist

1)Why were your chosen methods for data collection and analysis the best choices for your

project? Where do you explain that?

The method for data collection was an online survey made with Qualtrics.

2)How did you collect and analyze data? With whom? When? Where? For how long?

Where do you explain that?

An online survey was used, distributed to 60 individuals, 50 of which were viable and 10 of

which were immigrants. It was open for two weeks. This is described at the very beginning of

the methods section.

3)If applicable, how did you protect participants’ privacy? Where do you explain that?

A statement of informed consent is at the beginning of the survey. This aspect is described in

detail in the methods section 5 lines from the end of it.

Results/Discussion

1)What is your method of organization in this section of the paper and why did you

organize the info in this manner?


This section is organized by question. It moves methodically from question to question, breaking

down the responses to each. Paragraphs are separated by blocks of questions as they appear in

the survey.

2) What are the major sections of this part of the paper?

a) Recycling in Countries of Origin – Immigrant respondents only

b) Recycling in America – All Responden

3)How do you explicitly transition from one major section to another?

There is a transition sentence at the end of each block and subtitles are used.

4)How does the information you provide in each section supportively respond to your thesis

question/argument?

a) Information on how immigrants felt about recycling in their countries of origin needs to be

used to compare to recycling in America to discover if the values carried over.

b) Attitudes on recycling in America should be examined to reveal if immigrants hold different

beliefs on recycling than those raised in the United States.

5)What do your results mean and how do they relate to previous research (background

info) on your topic? Where do you explicitly explain this?

The results show that immigrants changed their attitudes after adjusting to recycling in America.

This aligns with certain past studies, but not all. This is explained in detail at the beginning of the

discussion section.


6)What do you do in this section, generally, to help your reader easily understand the

major results?

In the discussion section, the results are talked about not as numbers, so as to make it easier to

understand. Instead, trends and meaning were focused on.

Conclusion Checklist

1) Clearly restate your thesis question/argument purpose and offer a concise summary

of your major conclusions.

This research concludes that there may be a link between recycling rates in Miami and cultural

origins of its citizens, but other factors may play more important roles.

Where do you explicitly do this?

This is stated in the first sentence.

2) What are the major implications of your conclusions as related to better understanding

your author(s), chosen work(s), theories/concepts, chosen methods (autoethnography),

teaching approaches, etc? What do your conclusions mean for others such as teachers,

artists, historians, researchers, students, scholars, curriculum developers, engineers,

writers, etc? Where do you explicitly state this?

The major implications include better understanding of the citizens opinions on recycling,

leading to more informed policy making. A connection between culture and behavior can be

useful in psychology cases. The factor of convenience leads to a call to improve infrastructure,

which has implications for the local government and government workers.


3)What are the major limitations of your study? Where do you explicitly state this?

The major limitations include survey questions that do not isolate the factor of culture, the small

scope (only 10 immigrant respondents), clustered age of respondents. This is explicitly stated at

the very beginning of the conclusion.

4)What recommendations would you make for future study based on your work in this

paper? Where do you explicitly state this?

It was recommended to use a larger and more diverse sample, as well as more specific language.

In addition, it was suggested that future studies should broaden the scope from only immigrants

to those who lived for some period of time in other countries. A few extra survey questions were

included that would help future surveys obtain better data. These suggestions are located directly

after the limitations.

Editing, and Format Checklist

1) Which MLA/APA/CMS resources have you utilized to check your formatting to

ensure accuracy? How do you know your formatting is correct? Typical features

to consider:

I used the Purdue Owl website, their guidelines and sample paper, to know

that my formatting is correct.

- Running head (last name and page number) -yes

- Front page heading - yes

- Placement and format of title - yes

- Paragraph indentation - yes


- In-text citations (including citations with more than one source) - yes

- Block quote format, corresponding citations, subsequent sentences (no indent should be present

in subsequent sentences as new paragraphs should not follow quotes) - yes

- Section headings -yes

- Tables, images, charts, etc. -N/A

- Indirect quotes (info by an author quoted in another author’s work) – N/A

- Works Cited heading - yes

- Works Cited list (Hanging indents? Capitalization? Italicization?) -yes

- Non-sexist language - yes

- The word “you” is not used in your writing - yes

- Spelling - yes

- Quotes are not floating but introduced - yes

- All sources with page numbers available are properly cited - yes

2)List all of the academic, peer-reviewed journals you cited in your paper (I suggested ~10-

20 sources, +50% peer-reviewed):

a) Resources, Conservation and Recycling

b) Eastern Economic Journal

c) Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

d) Inter-American Dialogue


e) Environmental and Behavior

f) Journal of Advertising

g) Personality and Individual Differences

h) Journal of Buisness Research

i) Habitat International

j) Journal of Environmental Psychology

k) Programa ASA 2002

l) International Journal of Consumer Studies

m) Marketing, Intelligence & Planning

What do these journals collectively indicate about the info you discussed in the Thesis

Audience Checklist?

These journals indicate that the study will be relevant to the environmental planning and policy

making fields as well as psychology researchers and American relations researchers.

3)Who read your work out loud to you as you followed along with your own copy?

My roommate, Amelia.

Who proofread your work on your behalf?

Also, my roommate.

What was the most useful activity to help you develop/revise?


This checklist has actually been the most helpful because as I noticed I was missing something, I

switched over to my article and added it. As far as revisions go, the peer reading it was most

helpful because I could notice where my writing was and wasn’t coherent.

What did you change as a result of this activity (be specific)?

I added a lot of implications and continually checked my audience awareness. I also

added some transitions I found I needed. Most importantly, it caused me to take my paper to my

roommate and have her read it out loud. Basically, I just added everything that I needed, tied up

all my loose ends and closely reread my paper. It was very satisfying to complete; I finally feel

like I’ve done what I need to do for this paper.

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