Rational consumer in the context of environmental protection

Abstract

In recent decades, there is an increase in new environmental problems in the world, which gradually grow from the local to the global level, and their short--term consequences are gradually becoming long-term complex threats to the environment and thus the quality of life of current and especially future genera-tions. The main goal of the article was to review the behavior and attitudes of environmentally responsible consumers on the Slovak market and analyze the individual components of consumption and waste policy within the regions in the Slovak Republic in the context of environmental protection. Based on the cluster analysis and decision trees, we concluded that Slovak consumers rarely include eco-products in their consumption, mainly due to the high price or poor availa-bility of these products. Through a cluster analysis, we analyzed the consumption and specificities of individual Slovak regions, while the recommendation is to create special different strategies focused on the regions of the Slovak Repub-lic, based on waste reduction or the creation of waste recovery plants, which can create a favorable development in the circular economy of the Slovak Republic, and thus reduce the negative aspects of consumption affecting the environment and quality of life in the Slovak Republic.