The study, by UK social enterprise Behaviour Change, looked at the current state of green consumer behaviour in the UK, covering everything from loft insulation to flying, using a nationally representative sample of 1,000-plus qualitative fieldwork. The research found that that while easy behaviours such as recycling were now mainstream, sustainable living as a whole [...]
Clean air from smart buildings?
Looking at design solutions, we have photocatalytic clothing that can purify the air as the wearer moves around, so why not apply a similar concept to architectural materials to help cleanse the air outside? That is just the premise behind Reynobond with EcoClean, which is touted as an “architectural panel that cleans itself and the [...]
Hinduism and H2O
I often use Hinduism and H2O as a case-study in my workshops. This initiative was run as a partnership between the London Sustainability Exchange and Thames Water and aimed to promote water conservation with Hindu communities in East London, by making the link between scripture and sustainable consumption. The programme included: Sustainability Starter Kits containing [...]
Force for Good
As discussion emerge about corporate social marketing and the role of business to drive change, an initiative from Tomorrow’s Company called Force for Good is looking to build an online community “equipped with the leading edge thought, tools and examples to drive business as a force for good.” Force for good = business success + [...]
People and the planet
The Royal Society has yesterday published its landmark People and the Planet report – 21-months in the making – that looks at the impacts of human population and consumption on the planet. The heavy-weight report lays out nine recommendations for, what it hopes, will be a springboard for further discussion and action. 1) The international [...]
Farmers’ produce voucher
A couple of weeks ago we looked at Give It Up for Baby, a smoking cessation programme which gave pregnant women grocery vouchers in return for not smoking. Mercado de Trueque from Mexico City is in a similar vein. It is a government-led barter service which offers fresh produce in exchange for recyclable materials. It [...]
Using nudge for change
One UK report which looked at ‘nudge’ approaches to reducing energy use as opposed to increasing prices was released last year by Paul Dolan of the London School of Economics and Robert Metcalfe of the University of Oxford. I haven’t been able to source the final report but the findings were widely reported. The researchers [...]
Socially Responsible Consumers
Corporate Social Responsibility and corporate social marketing are intrinsically linked. The latter is often how a CSR strategy is implemented. Essentially corporate social marketing looks at change at two levels; supporting causes which contribute to greater societal good or developing new products and services which reflect both social and economic benefits. From a corporate perspective [...]
User pays for food waste
South Korea is about to roll out a new weight-based food waste fee system. New bins have been fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that will charge residents and business owners for the amount of food waste they create. This is a great example of a design approach to behaviour change. Users will tap [...]
Moments of Change
‘Moments of change’ as opportunities for influencing behaviour is the interesting title of a report published late last year by the new economics foundation (nef). Commissioned by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (defra), it explores whether ‘moments of change’ in people’s lives present a significant opportunity to encourage individuals to adopt more [...]