• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2017

Bio-based plastics containing the biomass content higher than 25 wt% have been considered as environment-friendly materials due to their effects on the reduction in the $CO_2$ emission and petroleum consumption as well as biodegradability after use. In this study, poly vinyl chloride, plant-derived plasticizers, by adding a biodegradable catalyst was observed a change in the biodegradability and physical properties. To produce the oxidative decomposition transparent bio film, which is broken down in the initial percent elongation and physical properties such as tensile strength, it was to test the safety of the product as a food packaging material. Poly vinyl chloride, primary plasticizer, secondary plasticizer, anti fogging agent, the combined stabilizer were mixed in a high speed mixer, then extruded using an extrusion molding machine, after cooling, winding, to produce a oxidative decomposition transparent bio film and the control film, with a thickness of $12{\mu}m$ through winder role. Mechanical properties tensile strength, elongation, and the maximum load elongation and biodegradation test. Transparent bio film produced by biodegradation catalyst is compared with the control film. Tensile strength and elongation of films were found to be no significant difference. Further, as a result of the biodegradation test for 45 days based on the ASTM D6954-04 method, biodegrability of film is 61.4%.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.109-133
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• 2014

With a growing concern about climate change and green house gases mitigation, carbon labeling policy has been launched in several countries as an environmental policy which connects low carbon production to low carbon consumption. This research aims to propose a model that explains consumers' attitude and brand loyalty toward carbon labeling products. This model specifies the consumer's psychological processes by which consumer values, such as autonomy and environmental values, affect carbon labeling product and corporate images and finally form brand loyalty toward carbon labeling products. Panel data were collected in two separate surveys and analyzed using a structural equation technique. Results are summarized as follows. First, consumers' autonomy value(AV) positively affects locus of control(LC) and corporate image(CI). Second, consumers' environmental value(EV) positively influences perceived consumer effectiveness(PCE), which in turn has a negative effect on perceived barriers(PB). Perceived barriers finally affect product image(PI) negatively. Third, both corporate image and product image have causal relationships with brand loyalty. Our results suggest that carbon labeling policy contributes not only to the reduction of greenhouse gases but also to the increase of consumers' attitude and brand loyalty toward carbon labeling products. This research also provides governments with directions for efficient environmental policy and firms with guidance on effective marketing strategies about carbon labeling.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.41-59
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• 2023

This study aimed at analyzing the educational needs of home economics teachers for food literacy cultivation education in secondary school home economics. A total of 192 home economics teachers were surveyed about their perceptions of importance and performance of food literacy education content categories and elements, and their priorities were identified. Among the 38 content elements presented, home economics teachers recognized that the current performance level was significantly lower than that of the importance over 34 content elements. Based on the Borich educational needs assessment and the Locus for Focus Model, we identified five content elements with 'very high' educational needs ('food security/food sovereignty', 'reducing food-related waste', 'food waste management and recycling', 'food-related waste recycling', and 'country of origin information'), and four content elements with 'high' educational needs ('genetically modified food', 'ethical food consumption', 'food additives', and 'eco-friendly agricultural products'). These results indicate that dietary education in secondary school home economics should emphasize both the production and disposal of food. The findings of this study suggest implications for the needs for a new dietary education in secondary school home economics that allows students to learn all stages of food system. These results can also be used as a basis for dietary education for cultivating food literacy in secondary school home economics education.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.95-109
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• 2023

In light of the world grappling with diverse environmental issues due to climate change, the prominence of the 'pre-cycling' movement has grown. This movement strives to curtail or eliminate waste generation even before product purchases, garnering more attention than conventional eco-friendly practices. Consequently, this study employs experiments to delve into effective message strategies for promoting pre-cycling behaviors, which serve as preventive measures against the escalating environmental challenges posed by worsening waste problems. This study investigated the effects of message framing and temporal distance on pre-cycling behavioral intention. In terms of message frame, suggestive messages increased pre-cycling behavioral intention more than coercive messages, and temporal distance had no direct effect on pre-cycling behavioral intention. Assertive messages were associated with higher pre-cycling behavioral intentions when the target was interpreted as near future and suggestive messages were interpreted as distant future. Although temporal distance did not directly affect pre-cycling behavioral intention, it positively influenced consumers' pro-environmental behavioral intention by reducing their antipathy toward assertive messages. The implications of this study extend to the realm of management, offering insights into steering consumer behavior in response to pro-environmental messages.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2010

Corporate social responsibility has become a very important issue for researchers (Greenfield, 2004; Maignan & Ralston, 2002; McWilliams et al., 2006; Pearce & Doh 2005), and many consider it necessary for businesses to define their role in society and apply social and ethical standards to their businesses (Lichtenstein et al., 2004). As a result, a significant number of retailers have adopted CSR as a strategic tool to promote their businesses. To this end, this study sought to discover U.S. consumers' attitudes and behavior in ethical purchasing and consumption based on their subjective perception and evaluation of a retailer. The objectives of this study include: 1) determine the participants awareness of retailers corporate social responsibility; 2) assess how participants evaluate retailers corporate social responsibility; 3) examine whether participants evaluation process of retailers CSR influence their attitude toward the retailer; and 4) assess if participants attitude toward the retailers CSR influence their purchase behavior. This study does not focus on actual retailers' CSR performance because a consumer's decision making process is based on an individual assessment not an actual fact. This study examines US college students' awareness and evaluations of retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR). Fifty six college students at a major Southeastern university participated in the study. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 26 years old. Content analysis was conducted with open coding and focused coding. Over 100 single-spaced pages of written responses were collected and analyzed. Two steps of coding (i.e., open coding and focused coding) were conducted (Esterberg, 2002). Coding results and analytic memos were used to understand participants' awareness of CSR and their ethical purchasing behavior supported through the selection and inclusion of direct quotes that were extracted from the written responses. Names used here are pseudonyms to protect confidentiality of participants. Participants were asked to write about retailers, their aware-ness of CSR issues, and to evaluate a retailer's CSR performance. A majority (n = 28) of respondents indicated their awareness of CSR but have not felt the need to act on this issue. Few (n=8) indicated that they are aware of this issue but not greatly concerned. Findings suggest that when college students evaluate retailers' CSR performance, they use three dimensions of CSR: employee support, community support, and environmental support. Employee treatment and support were found as an important criterion in evaluation of retailers' CSR. Respondents indicated that their good experience with a retailer as an employee made them have a positive perception and attitude toward the retailer. Regarding employee support four themes emerged: employee rewards and incentives based on performance, working environment, employee education and training program, and employee and family discounts. Well organized rewards and incentives were mentioned as an important attribute. The factors related to the working environment included: how well retailers follow the rules related to working hours, lunch time and breaks was also one of the most mentioned attributes. Regarding community support, three themes emerged: contributing a percentage of sales to the local community, financial contribution to charity organizations, and events for community support. Regarding environments, two themes emerged: recycling and selling organic or green products. It was mentioned in the responses that retailers are trying to do what they can to be environmentally friendly. One respondent mentioned that the company is creating stores that have an environmentally friendly design. Information about what the company does to help the environment can easily be found on the company’s website as well. Respondents have also noticed that the stores are starting to offer products that are organic and environmentally friendly. A retailer was also mentioned by a respondent in this category in reference to how the company uses eco-friendly cups and how they are helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans. The respondents noticed that a retailer offers reusable bags for their consumers to purchase. One respondent stated that a retailer uses its products to help the environment, through offering organic cotton. After thorough analysis of responses, we found that a participant's evaluation of a retailers' CSR influenced their attitudes towards retailers. However, there was a significant gap between attitudes and purchasing behavior. Although the participants had positive attitudes toward retailers CSR, the lack of funds and time influenced their purchase behavior. Overall, half (n=28) of the respondents mentioned that CSR performance affects their purchasing decisions making when shopping. Findings from this study provide support for retailers to consider their corporate social responsibility when developing their image with the consumer. This study implied that consumers evaluate retailers based on employee, community and environmental support. The evaluation, attitude and purchase behavior of consumers seem to be intertwined. That is, evaluation is based on the knowledge the consumer has of the retailers CSR. That knowledge may influence their attitude toward the retailer and thus influence their purchase behavior. Participants also indicated that having CSR makes them think highly of the retailer, but it does not influence their purchase behavior. Price and convenience seem to surpass the importance of CSR among the participants. Implications, recommendations for future research, and limitations of the study are also discussed.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2023

The worldwide effects of COVID-19 have led to a surge in online shopping and contactless services. The consumption pattern has caused the issues such as the environmental pollution together with the increase of plastic waste. Reducing the reliance on the petroleum based plastic use for the package and replacing it with environmentally friendly material are the simple ways in order to solve those problems. Paper is an eco-friendly product with high recyclability as the food packaging materials but has still poor barrier properties. A barrier coating on surface of the paper can be achieved with the proper packaging materials featuring water, gas and grease barrier. Polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) coatings which are generally laminated or coated to paper are widely used in food packaging applications to protect products from moisture and provide water or grease resistance. However, recycling of packaging containing PE or PP matrix is limited and costly because those films are difficult to degrade in the environment. This study investigated the recyclability of modified acrylic emulsion coating papers compared to PE and PP polymer matrixes as well as their mechanical and gas barrier properties. The results showed that PE or modified acrylic emulsion coated papers had better mechanical properties compared to the uncoated paper as a control. PE or PP coating papers showed strong oil resistance property, achieving a kit rating of 12. Those papers also had a significantly higher percentage of screen reject during the recycling process than modified acrylic coated paper which had a screen rejection rate of 6.25%. In addition an uncoated paper had similar value of a screen rejection rate. It may suggest that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper can be more easily recycled than PE or PP coating papers. The overall results of the study found that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper would be a viable alternative to suggest a possible solution to an environmental problem as well as enhancing the weak mechanical and poor gas barrier properties of the paper against moisture.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.580-587
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• 2017

Woodfiber insulation board can be considered as a one of the key material for low energy consumption, comfortable and safety construction of residential space because of its eco-friendly and high thermal insulation performance. This study was carried out to investigate the formaldehyde (HCHO) total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) emission properties and combustion shapes by flame test of low density fiberboards (LDFs) prepared with different adhesives. HCHO TVOC emission and combustion properties of LDFs prepared by melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF), phenol formaldehyde (PF), emulsified methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (eMDI) and latex resin adhesives were measured by desiccator method, 20 L chamber method, and flame test, respectively. As results, LDFs manufactured by MUF, eMDI and latex resin adhesives satisfied the Super $E_0$ grade of HCHO emission performance except PF resin. Furthermore, TVOC emission of all LDFs were satisfied the Korean indoor air quality standard (below $400{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$). Especially, LDF with eMDI resin adhesive showed the lowest HCHO and TVOC emissivity, that $0.14mg/{\ell}$, $12{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$, respectively. However, eMDI emitted the small amount ($3{\mu}g/m^2{\cdot}h$) of toluene in VOC components. In the flame test, LDF with MUF resin adhesives showed the most favorable shape after flame test compare to LDFs prepared other adhesives. Based on HCHO and TVOC emission, and combustion shapes, MUF resin adhesive may be recommended to prepare LDF for insulation purpose.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.283-295
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• 2011

Many actions against climate change have been taken to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions at home and abroad. As of 2007, the GHGs emitted from buildings accounted for about 23 % of Korea's total GHGs emission, which is the second largest GHG reduction potential following industry. In this study, we introduced Carbon Zero Building (CZB), which was constructed by the National Institute of Environmental Research to cut down GHGs from buildings in Korea, and evaluated the main applied technologies, the amount of energy load and reduced energy, and economic values for CZB to provide data that could be a basis in the future construction of this kind of carbon-neutral buildings. A total of 66 technologies were applied for this building in order to achieve carbon zero emissions. Applied technologies include 30 energy consumption reduction technologies, 18 energy efficiency technologies, and 5 eco-friendly technologies. Out of total annual energy load ($123.8kWh/m^2$), about 40% of energy load ($49kWh/m^2$) was reduced by using passive technologies such as super insulation and use of high efficiency equipments and the other 60% ($74.8kWh/m^2$) was reduced by using active technologies such as solar voltaic, solar thermal, and geothermal energy. The construction cost of CZB was 1.4 times higher than ordinary buildings. However, if active technologies are excluded, the construction cost is similar to that of ordinary buildings. It was estimated that we could save annually about 102 million won directly from energy saving and about 2.2 million won indirectly from additional saving by the reduction in GHGs and atmospheric pollutants. In terms of carbon, we could reduce 100 ton of $CO_2$ emissions per year. In our Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis, the Break Even Point (BEP) for the additional construction cost was estimated to be around 20.6 years.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.173-177
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• 2022

Mushroom production in Korea is concentrated on five major mushroom types. To create a new source of income for farmers, it is necessary to establish new mushroom production and marketing systems. This study was conducted to evaluate the marketability of and establish a marketing strategy for Pleurotus nebrodensis variety 'Uram'. The evaluation of distributors showed that it was necessary to cultivate mushrooms of uniform shape and size, to compensate for their low storability, and to sell them in small packages. The consumer evaluation showed that the texture of P. nebrodensis had the highest level of satisfaction for quality, but the levels of satisfaction for size and shape were low. In the consumer evaluation, as in the distributor evaluation, improvements in cultivation were found to be necessary, as the storage time is short due to a high moisture content. An evaluation of the market gave the following results regarding the marketing strategy. It was found to be necessary to consider the production of mushrooms of a uniform shape and size and sell them in small packages in the range of 150 to 300 g. The price of the mushrooms should be set using a high-end strategy for high-end sales. The mushrooms should be introduced to local food and eco-friendly stores in the early stages of production. Subsequently, if farmhouse production increases, shipments should be made to wholesale markets through a regular contract. Finally, considering that P. nebrodensis is an unfamiliar mushroom to consumers, it is necessary to promote it by increasing the accessibility of consumers through tasting events and experience groups.