What needs to be done to encourage people to consume more sustainably?

Mmm nice small topic for the blogs this week then! I’d say that a range of methods should be used. I think a lot of the government campaigns with goals to raise awareness and/or change behaviour are definitely a good start. I don’t think that the kind of behaviour changes needed are going to happen over night and these schemes should maybe only be judged on their effect on the next or at least up and coming generations. Also, as is it generally the case that the older you get, the more change resistant you become, these campaigns should be youth focused and the suggestion in PositiveEnergyShifts blog to include these in education curriculum is an excellent one.

Governments should also lead by example. The UK government has been poor at introducing, supporting and enforcing greener methods of provision. Supporting and encouraging more efficient and cleaner ways to provide not only shows the government leading from the front, but also a lot of these are better than the way we do things at the moment. Showing people that “going green” doesn’t always have to be about sacrifices would make people a lot more agreeable to changing their behaviour.

Both of these don’t really address the main problem though as they only require small behavioural changes. As people are naturally change and loss averse, schemes that advocate significant lifestyle changes and imply that people are going to have to give something up immediately trigger negative reactions. I think the best way to get people to consume more sustainably is to stress the positive aspects of sustainable choices. This should go past financial incentives and look to stress factors such as working locally gives you more time with friends & family, buying food locally sourced food allows you to engage with and support the local community more, etc.

I also think that these need to be supported by stronger regulations and a decent grant/incentive system to support the growth of organisations that will give people looking to change their life styles information, support, encouragement and access to more sustainable provision networks.