The key to creating a greener future is arguably centred on two quite different strategies and on two quite different scales. Firstly there is technology advancement such as the evolution of wind power, wave power and solar energy. These are large-scale projects, which can often seem quite distant to the people who would utilise such technology on a day-to-day basis. Generally such technology involves vast expense and the benefits are not always immediately obvious to the general public.
However, at the other end of the spectrum, there is the concept of behaviour change, incorporating sustainable practices into the everyday lives of the general public. These are projects that are generally on a much smaller scale and are more approachable to the individual. They can include initiatives such as increasing the recycling of waste in an office or at home, encouraging workers to cycle to work and providing them with the means to do so. However, ideas such as increasing employees’ recycling may sound relatively simply to initiate but they are actually quite hard to implement successfully.
Behaviour encompasses complex relationships and actions and therefore there is no one approach, no one size fits all, and it is not a single event; change involves progress over time and it is a complex challenge. Part of the problem may be that behavioural change initiatives don’t consider enough that you are asking people to change behaviours which they may have been carrying out for several years and don’t understand why they should change. Communication is key because to really influence people, people have to understand why change is needed and this understanding needs to be communicated in a manner which is comprehensible to multiple groups. Simply providing information often has little effect unless people understand the reasoning behind it.
It has been argued that one of the most effective methods of implementing effective behaviour change is to do so at the community level, adopting a bottom up approach using peer groups. For example, Defra is sponsoring the Degrees Cooler Programme, which is centred around greening twenty different universities through behaviour change initiatives such as Student Switch Off (an energy saving competition to reduce the energy usage of student halls of residence) [1]. On average, Student Switch Off has produced energy savings of over 9.3% [1], which demonstrates that collective action at the community level can make a difference. Arguably one reason why this programme has been so successful is that it uses students themselves to promote and initiate change. Students are asked to volunteer as Eco Power Rangers in their halls of residence to encourage other students to change their behaviours. People are far more likely to adopt behaviour change if the message is being communicated to them via their peers and they see their peers doing the same thing [3]. People are also more likely to trust messages that are relayed to them by their peers as opposed to the Government [3].
The above method is also very positive and portrays a positive message. Messages like ‘act to be more good not less bad’ tend to be far more effective than messages that rely on guilt and fear. Negative messages often turn people off and generate feelings of ‘what is the point’, ‘why bother’. Positive messages which use motivational techniques such as lobbying or peer pressure [2] help people to believe that they can make a difference, which is part of the challenge when trying to influence behaviour change.
In the work environment, behaviour change schemes can only be sustained if the work environment supports and rewards new behaviours. One-way of doing this is to ensure that adoption of behaviour change is rewarded and recognised [2]. For example, companies could incorporate sustainability criteria into employee performance ratings, bonus rewards and contractor reward fees. By making sustainability and behaviour change part of the fabric of the way a company operates, it helps to normalise the change and people are far more likely to adopt change if the behaviour is perceived as ‘normal’ [3].
Overall, behaviour change is an important tool to cut emissions and reduce environmental damage [3]. However, initiatives to change the behaviour of individuals and groups of people need to be tailored to the situation and circumstance. To ensure that people change their behaviours they need to understand why, and this is achieved by ensuring that positive messages are effectively communicated. Messages need to be communicated as consistently and clearly as possible. Like behavioural change, communication is an ongoing and two way process that needs to be maintained at the highest level.
References
[1] Degrees Cooler: Behavioural Change in Action (2010) [Online]. Available from www.nus.org.uk/en/Campaigns/Green-Zone/Degrees-Cooler-in-Action/
[2] Smith. J. Obtaining Behaviour Change Not Just Raising Awareness [Online]. Available from www.emergingself.com.au/Download%20docs/AAEE2005_handout.pdf
[3] Climate Change: Engagement and Behaviour, Postnote (2010) [Online]. Available from http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn347.pdf
