Sustainable Consumption Practices of Students through Practice-Oriented Approach of Education for Sustainable Development

Sustainable consumption practice is an effective approach to educating the younger generation in how to achieve sustainability in the future in agreement with sustainable development principles. This article aims to examine Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) knowledge and sustainable consumption practices. This study has three areas of focus, namely, (i) to study the difference between ESD knowledge and sustainable consumption practices among genders; (ii) to assess the difference between ESD knowledge and sustainable consumption practices by location; and (iii) to analyse the relationship between the variables of ESD knowledge and sustainable consumption practices. This quantitative study was conducted by using a questionnaire instrument. Two types of sampling techniques have been used, namely stratified sampling technique for the selection of schools and random sampling technique to select respondents at the selected schools. This study finds that ESD knowledge among male and female students differs, while sustainable consumption practices are the same in both genders. Next, in terms of sustainable consumption practices, there are differences between male and female students. Findings in regard to the location show that there is no difference between the school students in urban and rural areas in terms of ESD knowledge, except for the sustainable consumption practices variable, which shows significant mean differences between the groups of students from urban and rural areas. Overall, the students had acquired ESD knowledge and sustainable consumption practices. However, when examining the location of the schools, it turns out that the ESD knowledge of the students is similar but in practice the urban school students are better at implementing it. Thus, all parties, especially the schools, local communities, government agencies and non-governmental organisations can expand sustainability practices towards all levels of age and all school locations.