The Role of Environmental Education in Promoting Sustainable Consumption

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the contributions and limitations of Environmental Education in promoting sustainable consumption.   Theoretical Framework: The study relates Environmental Education, consumer society, waste generation, and socio-environmental impacts.   Method: A narrative literature review with a qualitative approach, based on normative documents and scientific publications issued between 1999 and 2024.   Results and Discussion: The literature indicates that Environmental Education can broaden the critical understanding of production, consumption, and disposal processes, encourage the revision of values and everyday practices, and strengthen social participation. However, information and awareness alone do not ensure lasting changes in consumption patterns.   Research Implications: Promoting sustainable consumption requires continuous, dialogical, and contextualized educational practices articulated with public policies, corporate responsibility, and social conditions that enable environmentally responsible choices.   Originality/Value: The most consistent contribution of Environmental Education does not lie only in guiding individual conduct, but in educating people who can understand the economic, political, cultural, and ethical dimensions of consumption and participate in transforming the relationships between society and nature.