Environmental Management Challenges and Possible Solutions Regarding Chemical Pollution Caused by Households in Latvia: A Qualitative Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to determine public perception of chemical pollution and environmental management problems in Riga, Latvia, and obtain possible solutions to these problems. This is a qualitative study where data was obtained by organizing focus group interviews. A total of 3 focus groups were held with 18 participants taking part. The first focus group consisted of adults living in apartments, the second group – of adults living in houses, and the third group consisted of students; all respondents live in Riga city or its peri-urban area. The results have shown that the main problems defined by respondents regarding chemicals and environmental management is lack of information, low level of environmental education, complexity of available information on chemicals and environmental aspects, inappropriate infrastructure and lack of availability of environmental services. The potential solutions for determined problems are qualitative environmental education in schools, improved informative material accessibility by creating applications for smartphones, advertisement and social campaigns, ensuring provision of infrastructure and services, and implementation of packaging deposit system.