The REAL incentive in Sustainability!

Do you like cake? Do you like treats? Don't you just love a nice incentive?

Pretty sure there was a resounding YES resonating through the voices in most of your minds.

So let's just imagine a world where everyone acts sustainably everyday and this is not because they are told to, not out of fear but, because it is just a fun and rewarding way of life. Sustainable living is your treat. It is the thing you look forward to in your day and taking climate action is just taking that first bite into your favorite desert.

This is the world we at CO2HERO are striving to create and in this edition we will give away some of our finest secrets to achieving workplace climate engagement so, for the next few minutes sit back, relax and enjoy!

Eat Your Greens or YOU are in Big Trouble!

I am sure everyone of us have heard that phrase or something similar during our childhood. On face value it seems very logical doesn't it? You know that if you do as you are told then you will not have some form of punishment. However, what if I told you that this is the incorrect way of changing human behavior.

According to Dr Tali Sharot, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, we are designed to avoid what we fear, what we do not like and, what makes us feel uncomfortable. That means, if when we are promoting climate change and we use expressions that intimidate, strike fear or even make our audience anxious, it can turn them away from our messaging and have them running in the opposite direction!

Yes, I totally understand there is race to reduce emissions by 45% in 2030, we must reach net zero by 2050 and, we must act now or face big trouble however, to achieve long term sustainability engagement our messaging also needs to be sustainable.?

If You Eat Your Greens You Get CAKE!

I struggle to think of any child that doesn't like cake and I am not sure about you but those magical words uttered by my mum got me scoffing the green peas on my plate like it was a timed event at the Olympics. So, what is the difference?

Well as we tend to avoid fear we alternatively tend to run towards what we like. There may be yards to run, there may even be some hard "green pea filled yards" but if there is a tasty reward after achieving our goal then we are likely to work towards it. Better still we do so on our own, without being forced, told or scared, but just because we want to. We need to reward those that do the right thing, take action and make a difference.

According to most studies, the majority of us are intrinsically motivated towards sustainable living. We want to be sustainable where we can because we know it is the right thing to do and will help our environment but still we are not vigorously taking climate action. This is because intrinsic motivation and immediate rewards go hand in hand.

Have Your Cake and EAT It!

Professor Kaitlin Woolley, at the SC Johnson Cornell College of Business states "For activities like work, where people are already getting paid, immediate rewards can actually increase intrinsic motivation, compared with delayed or no rewards. This is because an immediate reward strengthens the association between the activity and the goal of the activity, making people feel like the task is rewarding in and of itself.”

At CO2HERO for example we offer intrinsic motivation via our gamification, leaderboards, challenges & education. We combine that with rewards via climate points and in-app redeemable gifts. These are just some of the techniques we use to increase, maintain and continuously drive climate engagement and satisfaction.

So in summary, what is the REAL secret to climate change? People! We know you want to make a difference and the best thing about sustainability is that you can do so today with these easy steps:

1. Set your goals
2. Measure your actions
3. Share with your peers...
4. and always, always make it rewarding and fun!???

and together, let's cut down TODAY!

Thank You!

Thank you for?liking and sharing. If you are passionate about climate change and sustainability, it really helps educate more people on such an important topic!

Here are additional ways for us to stay connected:

→ If you would like to know more about sustainability check out my?YouTube Channel EnterpriseEddie.

→?Let's Follow each other on LinkedIn.?Click the Bell?? on my profile for business strategies, sustainability news, and advice on new features! I will follow you back! ??

→ If you would like to share internally in your organization, you can download a digital copy of?The Sustainable Breakfast Here!

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