Relationship Between Students Knowledge Level and Attitudes Toward Waste Management Behavior at State Junior High School 4 Surakarta

Beyond their academic function, schools serve as essential settings for cultivating ecological responsibility and character among students, especially in the context of waste management. This study aimed to examine the relationship between knowledge levels and attitudes of ninth-grade students and their waste management behavior at SMP Negeri 4 Surakarta. A cross-sectional observational analytic design was employed, with 100 respondents selected via simple random sampling. Data were gathered using a validated questionnaire covering three domains: knowledge (10 items), attitudes (10 items), and waste management behavior (10 items), analyzed through univariate and bivariate approaches using the Chi-Square test (α = 0.05). Findings showed that the majority of respondents demonstrated good knowledge (87%), positive attitudes (57%), and good waste management behavior (63%). Bivariate analysis found no statistically significant association between knowledge and waste management behavior (p-value = 0.124), while a significant association was identified between attitudes and behavior (p-value = 0.001). These results confirm that attitudes are a stronger determinant of waste management behavior compared to knowledge, indicating that environmental education should place greater emphasis on attitude development through experiential learning and habituation.