Why we don’t give a shit about the environment!

As I walked on the beach this weekend, the cleaning was in progress. I saw all the plastic waste scattered across the shoreline, the debris from our consumption. For some reason, it reminded me of the fragments of bone that survive even after cremation, just like them our choices float around, well after we are gone.?

We are all living in a glorified dustbin, the only difference being those with resources are able to build a larger wall between themselves and the unsightly. Even keeping global warming and other disastrous effects of climate change aside, there is a part of us that we are losing. There are two types of attention - voluntary and involuntary. The voluntary, needs us to focus, it consumes energy, like solving a math puzzle. The involuntary draws us in, and revitalizes us, like watching a sunset, a sky full of stars, forest bathing. The state we have left nature in, it may not be able to vitalize us, and no longer be the link between us and the larger universe.??

But why don’t we make changes? With so many biases,? it is just not easy to do so.? First, no one owns the climate and therefore no one personally feels responsible for it. Can you imagine anyone coming into your house and throwing used plastic? Second, our individual actions and the end results are so distanced, that we are not able to connect them. The plastic straw that I used in my cola, is not really the one choking a fish, my AC is not really causing a hole in the ozone layer causing cancer to me or my neighbours. Collective responsibility takes away the impact of individual actions.?

The evidence of climate change is gradual, not enough for us to notice. A flood here and there, unusual rains, not enough for us to hear the silent cry of the planet. The worry is that by the time it becomes obvious, it may be too late. Google tried to create awareness, by giving a voice to nature with the Last Words campaign. But with the lives that we live, always online, but also disconnected, it is a surprise that we have empathy for humans. To have empathy for the planet which cannot speak for itself seems a stretch. Are we evolved enough to see the value of a tree or its right to live on par with that of humans? So the trees saying F#ck or Sh#t, is it really bothering us? While having the conversation helps to create awareness, we need to see the impact on us or people like us. This is why floods and hurricanes still evoke a reaction, however temporary it may be. What we are doing right now to OUR people is far more hard-hitting than what we are doing to the planet. Reframing the conversations from the destruction of the planet to the destruction of people, of our children’s future is far more impactful.?

Another bias is hyperbolic discounting, we prioritize today over any rewards in the future, which is also seen in health behaviors. So making uncomfortable changes today to avoid the impact of climate change which happens in the future is not how evolution designed us. This is where the government comes into place, to make the hard choices we fail to make. Nothing has stopped since plastic straws were banned, a bit of an inconvenience, but life moved on. One option is to have a high tax on unsustainable materials, and another is to subsidize sustainable ones. The latter is a positive action, it allows brands to make such options more affordable for a larger audience. It also incentivizes innovation.?

From an individual lens, currently being unsustainable is not looked down upon, just like corruption in India. There is no social cost of these poor behaviors, so they continue. Those up in arms about climate change or veganism are usually viewed as the outliers. How do we make this cool, instead of marginal? We need opinion leaders to take up this cause, we need the young to take it up.?

We need to have better nudges for environment-friendly behavior and sludges for the opposite. If RO water was provided in glass jugs on the table in conferences, while bottled PET bottles had to be picked up at the end of the hall, most would choose the former.? How do we change our behavior?

For a behavior to occur, Fogg's model says three elements must occur Motivation, Ability, and Prompt. MxAxP: If motivation is high, but ability is lower, you will still overcome the barrier and do it, if the ability is high, its very easy to do, then motivation is not required to be high, since the barrier is lowered. M is the drive, A is the ease and P is the cue or trigger.?

For climate change, the motivation is currently low, because you are not personally responsible, impact is gradual. Ability is also on the lower side partly due to lack of awareness of possible actions or inconvenience of those. Are there any prompts that push us to be more responsible? Motivation can be increased, by reducing the distance between our actions and impacts. A walk on the littered beach every day, increasing temperature every summer, and more conversations are likely to drive up motivation. Ability can increase by brands offering more sustainable options that are affordable and accessible. Prompts can be as simple as AC showing the planet heating up when you lower the temperature too much. Or even people around you serve as visual reminders, by carrying their steel bottles with them on every trip.?

Have you made any changes and what inspired you?

#advertising #marketing #behavioralscience