ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND ECO-FRIENDLY PRACTICES AMONG STUDENTS: BASIS FOR A PROPOSED WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Abstract Education is vital in fostering environmental awareness and encouraging eco-friendly practices among students. This descriptive correlational research determines the relationship between environmental awareness and eco-friendly practices of students in the Iloilo State University of Fisheries Science and Technology Main Campus Tiwi Site as the basis for a proposed waste management program. The respondents randomly selected 128 first-year students from the Fisheries, Marine Biology, and Education programs using stratified proportionate random sampling. Part 1 of the instrument was the Environmental Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ) adopted from Sra (2020), which determines the students' environmental awareness, and Part 2 assessed the extent to which students engage in eco-friendly practices. The findings of the study revealed that students are somewhat aware of the environmental concepts and issues in terms of environmental pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain, global warming, and environmental laws. The results indicated that students frequently adopted various environmentally conscious behaviors daily. Respondents' high level of environmental awareness is related to their engagement in sound ecological practices. The researcher recommends creating waste management programs that will raise students' awareness of and understanding of the environment and give them the tools they need to make sustainable decisions in their daily lives.