To maintain a healthy blue planet, a number of issues must be addressed, including climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Everyone needs to get involved, but it can be hard to know where to begin and not feel overwhelmed.
Naturally, we can begin with the obvious by ensuring reduction, reuse, and recycling. However, they are insufficient in light of the scope of the challenge. So, how can we motivate individuals to do more?
The most effective strategy is the subject of debate. Some argue that focusing on simple actions can be distracting and cause people to overestimate their impact, decreasing their likelihood of doing more.
In any case, our new exploration found that advancing little and moderately simple activities, like diminishing plastic use, can be a helpful passage point for participating in other, possibly more compelling activities around environmental change.
The plastic distraction debate Efforts to reduce marine plastic pollution have received a lot of attention because marine plastic pollution is expected to quadruple by 2050. Australia is making significant progress in this area.
For instance, last year researchers found that the amount of plastic litter found on Australian coasts had decreased by 30% beginning around 2012–13. Additionally, seven of the eight states and territories in Australia have pledged to outlaw single-use plastics.
However, some scientists are concerned that all of the talk about plastic will keep us from addressing the more pressing issue of climate change, which is rapidly deteriorating marine ecosystems and making the oceans hotter than ever.
For instance, coral reefs could lose more than 90% of their coral cover within the next ten years if greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically reduced. This includes the Great Barrier Reef in our own backyard.
Australia is not doing enough to address climate change. Numerous Australians are additionally uncertain about which moves to make. For instance, a recent report asked in excess of 4,000 Australians what activities were expected to assist with the incomparable obstruction of reefing. The most widely recognized reaction (25.6%) involved diminishing plastic contamination. Just 4.1% of individuals referenced a particular activity to moderate environmental change.
“Spillover” behavior An experiment was conducted to determine whether this preference for taking action against plastic could be turned into action against climate change.
The “behavioral spillover” theory served as the foundation for our experiment. This theory holds that what we do now has an impact on what we do in the future.
For instance, what you eat in the afternoon may be influenced by your decision to go to the gym in the morning.
Experts contend that concentrating on reducing plastic use—a relatively straightforward action—can help establish momentum and pave the way for additional environmental initiatives in the future. This is known as certain overflow.
On the other hand, advocates of the “plastic distraction” movement contend that if individuals reduce their use of plastic, they may believe they have accomplished enough and become less likely to take additional actions. The term for this is negative spillover.
Trying different things with the overflow of plastic from the environment
We conducted an internet-based experiment with 581 Australians to see if we could empower overflow behavior in relation to the Incomparable Obstruction Reef.
Members were haphazardly distributed to one of three exploratory gatherings or a benchmark group. The main gathering got data about plastic contamination on the reef alongside prompts to help them remember their endeavors to handle the issue in the previous week (a “conduct preliminary”). Only information about reef plastic was given to the second group. The third gathering got data about the reef and environmental change. The control group received information about World Heritage sites in general without mentioning the Great Barrier Reef or calling for action.
After that, participants were asked if they were likely to take a variety of climate actions, such as lowering their own personal emissions of greenhouse gases and discussing climate change with others. They could also “click” on a few embedded actions in the survey, such as signing a climate change petition online.
Contrasted with the benchmark group, those who gave data about plastic contamination were more able to draw in with environmental activities, especially when they were helped to remember positive past ways of behaving. However, there was no discernible difference between those who were provided with information about climate change.
Plastic messages likewise meaningfully affected environmental activity for the individuals who were politically moderate, contrasted with those all the more politically moderate.
However, the strategy did not work for everyone. With 572 self-identified ocean advocates, many of whom were already involved in marine conservation issues, we repeated the experiment. Compared to the control group, this audience was less likely to engage in climate action when they were told about plastic and their previous efforts.
What does all of this mean, then?
According to our findings, it is possible to motivate climate action for the reef without reverting to plastic-related discussions. The following are four methods for accomplishing this:
- Helping individuals remember the little moves they already make can open the door to additional action by reminding them of their positive contributions and inspiring them to do more.
- Come to an obvious conclusion regarding plastic and the environment: Fossil fuels make up the majority of plastics, and their production alone generates billions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. People may be encouraged to take additional climate actions if it is made abundantly clear that the fight against fossil fuels is also a fight against climate change and plastic.
- Make clear calls to action regarding the climate: According to research, most people are unable to independently identify climate actions. Accordingly, they will generally stall out on normal ways of behaving, like reusing. Offering individuals clear guidance on how they can contribute to alleviating environmental change is vital.
- Know your target market: In general, spillovers from plastic to the climate are more likely. If your network is full of people who care about the ocean, it might be better to talk about climate change actions instead of plastic.
It’s vital that individuals’ initial steps don’t need to be their main advances. Some of the time, they simply need a little direction for the excursion ahead.
Provided by The Conversation
