ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION: THE WAY TO REDUCE SINGLE USE PLASTIC CONSUMPTION IN BRAZILIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY

Abstract

This work analyzes the actions of education and environmental management to solve the problem of consumption of plastics for single use in the Brazilian tourism sector in tourist destinations in Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo, and Santa Catarina. Brazilian tourism - as it is concentrated in the country's coastal zone - the excessive and unconscious consumption of single-use plastics, and the reduced collection and proper disposal of its waste make the sector one of the largest contributors to marine pollution. In this context, with a qualitative research with public and private managers (from means of accommodation and public agencies), we identified the perception of these key actors regarding the theme and implemented actions. To remedy this problem implies a change in paradigm, in behavior, in raising awareness together with effective environmental management actions in destinations and in society in general. Thus, environmental management and education present themselves as indispensable instruments through which a change of values ​​can be instilled, creating a critical awareness of habits to promote new lifestyles, questioning current ones. In this way, environmental management and education play a central role in reducing the consumption of single-use plastics not only in the tourism sector, but in the population as a whole.