Behavioural Determinants Of Beach Litter Management Practices Among Beach Users Along The Kenyan Coast

Beach-litter management involves taking measures to minimize waste accumulation along the coastal environments towards healthy marine ecosystem. It involves various strategies including anthropogenic waste prevention, monitoring, mitigation and removal. Installation and positioning of trash bins, and interactive signage is one of the basic mechanism that plays key role in eradication of beach litter. Beach-litter management also entails environmental awareness, targeted campaigns and other behavioural interventions to reduce the gap between beach users' actual behavioural characteristics and standard environmental values. However, evidence on specific paired behavioural relationships among Kenyan coastal beach users remains limited. This study examined four relationships between bin visibility versus bin use, disposal guidance versus litter-disposal behaviour, noticing litter versus concern about litter and frequency of beach visits versus litter-disposal behaviour. Cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on selected beaches in Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale involving 287 valid respondents. Responses were categorised, cross-tabulation and Pearson's chi-square was determined. Simulated p-values were undertaken where necessary with Cramer's V for association magnitude determined. There was statistical significance between the first three relationships, that is, bin visibility versus bin use, which had the largest observed association magnitude of 39.4%, disposal guidance versus litter-disposal behaviour and noticing litter versus concern about litter. The fourth relationship, frequency of beach visits versus litter-disposal behaviour was not statistically significant. This suggests that visiting beach many times does not necessarily influence change in beach user's behaviour towards littering