Green technology and sustainability in Australia

Abstract

Due to rapid technological developments world is undergoing a drastic change and this change is forcing not only organizations but also citizens to pay more attention to the negative effects they are imposing on the environment directly or indirectly. This concern is making them more vigilant than in previous years and has placed on them the responsibility to be more sustainable and change their mindset as much as possible to achieve greater sustainability. The concept of sustainability has been established in order to protect, restore and maintain natural resources and give a new perspective to their usage as they are not limitless. If we want future generations to have adequate resources for their needs, as we now do, alternative ways must be found to use these resources responsibly, as well as utilizing renewable energy sources. Moreover, sustainability can help to ensure people’s wellbeing, health and economic growth within a society. Hence, in this research, we examine people’s awareness of sustainability, the importance of educating people in regard to sustainability, and whether this education brings about any significant changes in the way that organizations do business particular in terms of employees’ adoption of sustainable practices. Moreover, this research investigates the extent to which people are aware of the advantages and risks associated with the adoption of sustainability. In this study, we assess the advantages and disadvantages of green technology in Australia, as well as people’s awareness of sustainability and green IT. Specifically, our research objective is to assess the advantages and disadvantages associated with the adoption of green IT in Australia. Adopting a deductive approach, an online survey was conducted using Qualtrics for the data collection, Survey questionnaire items were designed to elicit from participants information related to their level of awareness of sustainability and green technology, and the advantages and disadvantages of adopting green IT in Australia. IBM SPSS was used to analyse the collected data, and the results of the survey are presented in detail. For the purposes of this study, the quantitative methodology was adopted. Furthermore, like any other research, this study has its own limitations in terms of sampling, time constraints and incomplete questionnaires in some cases. Moreover, the response ‘Maybe’ in answer to the question “How much would the regular changing of the device affect the environment?” indicates that people’s awareness is not yet strong enough to effect a change in attitude in favour of sustainability. This demonstrates that a greater effort must be made to raise public awareness of sustainability and shift the current mindset. Future research could investigate effective ways by which such awareness could be increased.