Can the general public be motivated to change their behaviour, and what would that take? Perhaps all it takes is the normalisation of environmentally sustainable behaviour—so if most people around you are biking to work or switching to reusable coffee mugs, you too are more likely to dust off your ten-speed and choose glass over paper for your morning takeaway brew.
Dr Wokje Abrahamse, a senior lecturer from Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, is looking to answer this question with research into what initiatives work in changing behaviour, and why.
“I am an environmental psychologist, so I apply psychological theories to better understand the barriers and enablers of engagement in environmentally friendly behaviours,” Wokje explains.
Among the projects that are providing valuable data, are on-campus campaigns to raise awareness about food waste, reduce work-related air travel by staff, and encourage students and staff to bring reusable containers on Tupperware Tuesdays.
“These initiatives are organised by students working in teams applying what they have learned to a sustainability issue on campus,” Wokje says.
“Several projects have been successful in changing behaviour. A project where customers were offered the use of a mug they could return after use (so-called ‘boomerang cups’) instead of a takeaway cup caused a significant increase in the use of reusable cups in on-campus cafes. And the Tupperware Tuesday intervention has prompted a marked increase in the use of reusable containers.”
The role of social norms—or what society expects of us—has also been explored, with some heartening results.
In one experiment a group of students systematically varied the amount of litter a public space on the University’s Kelburn campus and then observed people’s littering behaviour. They found that people were less likely to litter in a clean environment, compared to a littered environment.
“A littered environment can be a ‘cue' that everybody litters, and as a result, more people litter. In contrast, when more people exhibit pro-environmental behaviours this can act as a social norm,” says Wokje.
The question then, she says, is how best to apply these approaches to society at large.