Abstract
Environmental issues receive ever increasing attention in society and a general level of concern is expressed in the society, yet specific action-related programmes (such as recycling campaigns) do not experience the success that could be expected, given the level of attention and concern. This poses questions regarding the awareness and actions towards environmental issues. These are however, influenced by attitudes, making them critical. The focus of this quantitative study was to investigate the
attitudes (and their components) of South Africans towards environmental and recycling issues. The study was conducted among a convenience sample of 139 respondents using a self administered paper-based survey. The findings show that respondents exhibited relatively positive attitudes towards environmental issues. No significant differences were, however, found between groups based upon gender or income, while significant differences were found between older and younger respondents. This paper indicates that organisations involved in environmental issues (including recycling) can harness positive attitudes to increase the success of programmes that are introduced.