Going green for health: People’s perception

The people of Delhi may not be very emotionally attached to the green spaces, but they do feel the need to have open areas and green spaces for health reasons. Nearly 41 per cent of the respondents believe that numerous diseases spread due to the depletion of green cover or cutting of trees. They believe that since air pollution can be addressed by planting more and more trees, the government should take a conscious and well-directed effort in this direction. Green spaces are precious spaces in the city.

Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services are the services that people gain for free from the nature. As one of the respondents of Rajouri Garden mentioned: ‘If we have enough green spaces and open gyms, we would save lot of money that we spend on going to the gym or other exercise classes’. Nearly 54 per cent of the respondents hold the opinion that green spaces are mostly required because they give fresh air. About 30 per cent feel they are needed mostly for morning and evening walks. They are lifelines of especially the elderly and the children.

Table 4.7 given above shows that more than one-tenth of the people feel that green spaces are mostly for aesthetic purposes, and some believe they are needed to have plenty of rain and cool temperature in the city.

Table 4.7 Ecosystem services derived from green spaces

Level of environmental awareness

The level of awareness about the environment among the people is the significant factor that helps to understand their choice for eco-friendly products (EFP). There are a large number of products we use in our everyday lives that harm the environment directly or indirectly. The study also aimed to determine the awareness of the people for EFP, impact of education on the choice of the people for these products, use of EFP for the conservation of green belt and protection of environment by keeping the surroundings clean.

a) Willingness to pay (WTP) for EFP: About 58 per cent of the total respondents in Delhi expressed their willingness to buy EFP. Since EFP are expensive in comparison to the traditional products, even people who feel like buying the product are not willing to pay a higher price.

A zonewise analysis shows that the preference to buy EFP is the highest in the New Delhi zone, followed by the northwest, while it is the lowest in the northeast Delhi zone (Figure 4.4). Therefore, green products can be introduced in areas where people are showing willingness to buy EFP. On the other hand, awareness programmes can be conducted in areas where people are showing a low preference to buy EFP.

b) EFP and educational level: Education is one the indicators of awareness. Preference for EFP is very significantly related to the level of education. As the level of education increases, so does the preference for EFP. Illiterate people have very low preference for EFPs; this might be because of lack of awareness and knowledge about how the environment and pollution affect our health. It can also be because of the higher cost of the EFP. Preference for EFP is the highest among graduates than post-graduates and other groups such as diploma holders (Figure 4.5).

Figure 4.4 Preference for environment friendly products. Source: Primary survey

Figure 4.5 Preference of ecofriendly products and educational level.

Linear regression analysis for preference of EFP

In the regression model, 14 independent variables have been taken into consideration for identifying the determinants for preference for EFP of the people in Delhi:

Dependent Variables = Preference for EFP

Explanatory variables are defined as below:

X, = Age of the respondent in years X₂ = Gender (male = I, female = 0)

X₃ = Level of educational attainment

X₄ = Marital status (married = 0, unmarried = I

X₅ = Family type (nuclear family = 0, joint family = I)

X₆ = Number of family members

X₇ = Own house of the household (No = O.Yes = I)

X₈ = Household monthly income

X, = Number of earning members in the family

X|₀ = Environmental pollution in your area (Yes = I, No = 0)

X, 1 = Is there existence of disease in your area (Yes = I, No = 0)

X|2 = Frequency of occurring of disease (frequently = I, moderately = 2, rarely = 3, not at all = 4)

X13 = Hospital type (government hospitals = I, private hospital = 0).

X|₄ = Interest in conservation of green belt (high or moderate interest = I, no interest = 0)

The main objective of this study was to partial out the independent effect of each variable, while controlling the other factors. Table 4.8 shows the results of the Ordinary Least Square model.

Table 4.8 Test statistics for the regression model for the preference for EFP

Source: Primary survey

Table 4.8 illustrates the test statistic of regression result for the determinants of the WTP for EFP. The model is quite robust with an F statistic value of 74.184 with over 99 per cent level of confidence. The value of R-square (coefficient of determination) is estimated to be 0.735, that is, a 73 per cent variation in the dependent variable is explained by the variations in the independent variables. An adjusted R square value of 0.533 gives us the idea of how well our model generalises. Ideally, we would like the adjusted R value to be the same or very close to the value of R square, which is 0.540. R is the multiple correlation coefficient that tells us how strongly the multiple independent variables are related to the dependent variable. The regression coefficient R value of 0.735 shows that there is a high positive correlation between the dependent variable preference for EFPs and all independent variables in the model.

The standardised beta coefficient of the regression model for WTP for EFP compares the strength of the effect of each individual independent variable to the dependent variable. It also shows which of the independent variables have a greater effect on the dependent variable in a multiple regression analysis, especially when the variables are in different units of measurements. The higher the absolute value of the beta coefficient, the stronger the effect. The variance inflation factor (VIF) value is less than 10 and the tolerance level is more than 0.1 in the model, which shows that the given model is free from the problem of multicolinearity as shown in the Table 4.9.

Conclusion from the regression analysis is as follows: ^•

Preference for EFP is positively related to the age of the respondents. As the age increases, people become more environment conscious and their choice for EFP also increases.

• • Male respondents show more interest for purchasing EFP than female respondents, and the result is significant.
• • There is a significant positive relationship between the preference for EFP and the level of education of the respondents.

• * Note: p < 0.01;
• ** p < 0.0S:
• *** p < 0.1 Source: Computation by authors

• • Nuclear families have more preference for EFP than joint families. There is a significant negative relationship between the number of members in the family and their choice for EFP. As the number of members of the family increases, the preference for EFP decreases.
• • There is a significant and positive relationship between the monthly family income and the number of earning members in the family and their preference for EFP. As the income of the family increases, so does the preference for EFP.
• • The result shows that if there is a higher frequency of occurrence of disease, the family’s choice for EFP also decreases. This might be because the families have to spend a significant amount of money on doctors, medicines and health check-ups.
• • With regard to the hospital type, respondents who visit government hospitals show a relatively less interest in EFP. On the contrary, there is a significant relationship between the respondents who visit private hospitals and their preference for EFPs. This might be because the relatively high-income group that visits private hospitals tries its best to restore the health of its family members by minimising the use of products that are not healthy for them or the environment.
• • Interest in conservation of green belt shows that respondents who are more interested in conservation of the green belt show a higher interest in EFP.