Comments on: Selt Directed Greens vs Uninterested Polluters

By: Layla

Layla — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:26:17 +0000

I totally agree that making it more convenient and/or adding cash incentives would totally help!!

Even if you are ‘green’ and want to do good, is it really necessary that you almost need a doctorate to figure out where what goes?!
Making it simpler and easier, and for example having more recycling bins in the community and more frequent emptying of those could really help!

DSF, aren’t CFLs and batteries collected in shops where you live?

By: DSF

DSF — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:22:35 +0000

Oh, nice chart! I’ve been thinking about this in respect to my current obsession, bokashi–would love to get more folks involved, but keep coming up against that “convenience” barrier. As with recycling, making it simpler seems to help; unfortunately, “just as convenient as” isn’t enough to encourage a change in behavior, it seems to require “more convenient than” to make it worth changing the habit. Or some other reward/disincentive in addition, maybe.

For recycling, I’d love to see our municipality add special days for collecting CFLBs, wire hangers, plastic grocery bags, and batteries, the way they do for Christmas trees. It mightn’t be as simple as the biweekly pick-up, but as it is, they’re spending PSA funds to try to educate folks that those items cannot go in our single-stream recycling bins–and, apparently, losing money and resources when those items are added in disregard of policy.

DSF

By: Jen CleanBin

Jen CleanBin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:42:12 +0000

Good one! I was lucky enough to go to a workshop by Mackenzie-Mohr last year, and it was super interesting and inspirational. He really focuses on measuring your efforts so success can be replicated in other jurisdictions.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:59:05 +0000

The area of study for these types of hurdles in creating mass movement is called “Social Marketing” refer to a Vancouver Sun article of June 22 2009 as well as the book
“Fostering Sustainable Behaviour” by Doug Mackenzie-Mohr

By: Mrs Green

Mrs Green — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Wonderful post with some thought provoking comments. Your thoughts echo my own – I’ve come to realise more and more that people need incentive to overcome inconvenience. It kinda makes me sad…

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:20:52 +0000

In the uk i hate the idea that people will be fined or parts of their refuse not taken away if we don’t seperate things properly or if the bins are overfilled for the roadside collections. i would like to see more recyle centres to put the recyclables in plus i would love to be rewarded rather than punished to do the recyling. i haven’t seen any deposit systems where i live. also i heard that the uk government will bring out slop buckets in the future with ridiculous fines for those not using them. what happens if compost my veg peelings don’t want a fine for not doing as im told.