Disrupted sustainability? - Students’ environmental practices from home to campus

This study examines the disconnect between universities’ sustainability initiatives and students’ everyday environmental practices. Through qualitative interviews, we explore how environmental habits formed during youth are disrupted by barriers encountered in university settings. The transition from home to campus provides an important “window of opportunity” for promoting and reinforcing environmental habits, yet institutions often fail to support this critical period of behavioral adaptation. Participants reported inconsistent recycling systems, widespread single-use plastics in dining services, and limited support for sustainable living, leading many to discard prior sustainability practices. While some students maintained environmentally responsible behaviors through personal ethics or peer networks, most described a persistent gap between intention and action. This divide reveals habit discontinuity from home to campus. It also illustrates a misalignment between institutional sustainability goals and students’ lived experiences, creating frictions that undermine universities’ stated commitment to sustainability. We argue that fostering environmental practices requires supportive micro-level infrastructures that make sustainable choices accessible, convenient, and consistent with institutional values.