Investigating environmental awareness of citizens of Azerbaijan: a survey on ecological footprint

The adverse effects of humans on the environment are growing every day. "Ecological footprint" (EF) is related to the Sustainable Environment and measures the impact of human activities on the environment. The reduction of EF has become a critical issue. This research aims to determine the EF awareness of consumers. The research sample consists of 404 consumers residing in the Ganja province of Azerbaijan. The “ecological footprint awareness survey” has been used as a data collection tool. The collected data were analysed with the SPSS 24.0 package program. The variables of the research were gender, educational status, place of residence, occupation, and income. Research has shown that the highest consumer awareness of EF was in food and transportation, and the lowest awareness was in water consumption. There was no statistically significant difference by gender. When the resident effect was examined, EF water consumption awareness was significantly higher among those living in the town than those living in the city. Consumers with middle school and university degrees were more conscious of their energy consumption levels. By profession, civil servants, farmers and housewives exerted higher environmental awareness than other groups examined. Finally, the income variable showed that higher-income consumers were more aware of the food, energy, and water consumption related matters.