Interventions to slow down drivers and reduce wildlife collisions
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Gelderland Province offers abundant natural beauty that’s cherished by both humans and animals. Nevertheless, where nature and human activities intersect, accidents can occur. In the Netherlands, thousands of wildlife collisions happen annually, often due to speeding motorists unaware of animals along the roads. This behaviour poses risks to both traffic safety and animal welfare.
Additionally, the annual shift in daylight patterns brings earlier darkness. While wild animals maintain their regular rhythms, human travel occurs later; thus contributing to an increase in wildlife collisions.
The Green Nudge:
To mitigate this issue of wildlife collisions, creative agency ANDC has developed interventions targeting motorists‘ behaviour.
Their research identified three promising approaches: capturing attention and offering actionable perspectives, heightening risk perception, and reinforcing desired behaviours among the respective target audience (drivers).
Signs were created to welcome motorists into the wildlife domain, fostering a sense of being “guests” in the animals‘ territory. These signs concluded with a clear demarcation, distinctly outlining the area’s boundaries. Furthermore, in order to amplify the perception of risk, a dynamic light sign was developed to indicate the frequency of wild animal crossings.. Finally, strategically positioned silhouettes of wild animals along the road served as attention-grabbing symbols to evoke associations with the local wildlife.
The result: This set of interventions significantly reduced the speed of motorists. In the short term, the average speed decreased by 3.64 km/h. Over the long term, the average speed was consistently lower, showing a reduction of 5.19 km/h on average.
Are you aware of any other nudges that help to protect wildlife? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Merel Peters of creative agency ANDC – behavior meets design. Leveraging their expertise in behaviour, technology, and design, they empower individuals to embrace healthier, safer, and more sustainable choices. Primarily serving municipalities, provinces, water boards, and housing corporations, their focus centres on fostering positive change.
Disney Paris debuts colour-changing showers for water savings
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Water waste in hotels resulting from showering is a significant problem, especially when guests do not concern themselves with the extra costs. On average, hotel guests likely shower for 8-10 minutes, a significantly increased use of water as compared to a more economical 5-minute shower when at home.
This behaviour is simply bad for the environment and contributes to unnecessary water depletion. And moreover, because hotels consume thousands of litres of water on a daily basis to accommodate this increased demand, hotel operational costs are also inflated.
The Green Nudge:
As part of its ongoing mission to reduce water usage, Disneyland Paris is testing special water-saving shower heads at Disney Sequoia Lodge. These illuminated showers start with a soothing blue for the first 10 litres; switch to an encouraging green up to 20 litres; then shift to a reflective purple when the guest uses up to 30 litres; and finally signal with a bold red, when guest usage exceeds 30 litres. This clever use of universally recognized colours not only promotes shorter showers, but also merges significant behavioural change with enjoyment.
The result: The „Hydrao shower heads“ have successfully reduced water use in showers by 22% at the testing lodge. Pending their continued effectiveness, the resort plans to expand the installation of these efficient shower heads and water-saving toilets in all of Disneyland-Paris hotel rooms.
To boost conservation efforts even further, Disney-Paris ought to consider enhancing the water-light system by activating the red light earlier.
Are you aware of any other nudges that help to save water? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Sanne Reijnen, a behavioural psychologist and founder of Behaviour & Beyond. She passionately transforms scientific insights into practical applications; one of which led to creating one of the 1st behavioural teams at de Volksbank in all of the Netherlands. Driven by the belief in lasting organisational impact through behavioural understanding, she established Behaviour & Beyond to help organisations systematically apply behavioural science.
Seductive trash cans: More dirty talk, less dirty streets
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Littering poses a significant challenge in densely populated urban areas. The careless disposal of items such as plastic bottles and cigarette butts not only detracts from the city’s aesthetic but also inflicts harm on the environment. Moreover, the financial burden of cleanup is substantial.
Addressing this issue necessitates educating the public on the importance of responsible waste disposal and improving access to proper trash disposal facilities. However, is relying solely on rational education or resorting to moralising and finger-pointing truly effective? An underutilised strategy leveraging humour to promote the vision of a clean, green city, can potentially offer an even more constructive and engaging approach.
The Green Nudge:
The Swedish city of Malmö has innovatively installed talking garbage cans that play suggestive audio messages when trash is deposited. Pedestrians are rewarded with flirtatiously positive feedback from a sultry female voice, offering responses like “Ooooh, right there, yes!” and “Mmm, a bit more to the left next time,” transforming litter disposal into an unexpectedly entertaining experience.
A spokesperson said that the idea of the recorded sexy voice was „a new, humorous way to get across our message,“ which was intended to give „positive reinforcement to people who do the right thing, whilst giving them a laugh.“
Although quite effective, constructively speaking, the initiative could have been enhanced by adopting a more gender-equal approach. Opting for a female voice in Malmö’s talking trash cans might unintentionally reinforce sexist stereotypes; which detracts from Sweden’s dedication to gender neutrality and equality. Employing a gender-neutral voice would have sidestepped these concerns, more accurately and thus reflect the nation’s forward-thinking gender policies.
Are you aware of any other nudges that use humour to promote environmentally-friendly behaviour? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Mika Dahlquist who is a Freelance Copywriter and Web Editor based in Malmö, Sweden. With expertise in SEO and web editing, Mika helps to transform clicks into customers, and offers meaningful marketing solutions for businesses aiming to make an impact.
The Enervee Score: A one-time nudge that saves energy for years and years
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Imagine you’re buying a new washing machine. Even if you wanted to choose the most energy-efficient one, you typically can’t – for the simple reason that appliances are labelled purely with the energy class they fall into (both here in the EU and the US). Put another way, we as consumers cannot “choose” the most energy-efficient appliance. Instead, we “have to pick” one (and hope for the best). This distinction between choosing and picking may sound like semantics, but it’s crucial.
We cannot expect consumers to make green choices when they aren’t able to make a choice at all. The Enervee team decided this conundrum was wrong, and wanted to enable consumers to make a greener purchasing decision.
The Green Nudge:
The obvious question however, is whether we as consumers would move to choose the most efficient, if we could. Put another way, do we tend to pick because we cannot choose, or do we pick because we cannot be bothered to choose?
To get to an answer, the team at Enervee combined behavioural and data science, to study every single product in the market, and to develop the “Enervee Score.” The Enervee Score ranks every product in a category, scoring between 0 and 100 – the higher the score, the more efficient the product compared to other similar products. By introducing this score, they turned what had been a “shrouded” attribute into an “actionable” attribute.
The result: In randomised controlled studies they saw a 20% increase in efficiency for products chosen when the score was shown. This result is crucial, regardless of shoppers’ interest in sustainability or the climate.
This simple nudge secured innovation awards and has been held-up as an example of ‘market transformation,’ moving US policymakers away from expensive product rebates. And nudging consumers to buy a more efficient product means there are energy savings every time that product is then turned-on, by virtue of it being more efficient than the average product in that category. This is an example of a single nudge, used one time, that can deliver energy savings across the lifetime of the product.
Do you know of any other nudges that promote better, sustainable decision-making? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Guy Champniss, PhD, Head of Behavioral Science at Inizio Engage XD, a global consulting firm specialising in healthcare strategy and engagement. He also serves as a Professor of Innovation & Behavioral Science at IE Business School. He was a founding member of Enervee, where he was responsible for consumer behaviour. Enervee is a US-based, VC-backed climate-tech company that’s built around a simple behavioural nudge, proven to deliver more energy efficient purchase decisions.
“Who Gives A Crap”: Toilet Paper nudges people to wipe greener
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Toilet paper presents a significant environmental concern due to its production process. Mass-produced toilet paper contributes to extensive deforestation, with approximately 1.9 million trees being cut down daily to meet global demand. This massive deforestation not only diminishes vital forest ecosystems but also exacerbates climate change by reducing carbon sinks. The production of toilet paper is also associated with unregulated, often uncounted, carbon emissions. Additionally, the manufacturing process is incredibly water-intensive, consuming approximately 140 litres of water for every toilet roll produced!
Consumers are encouraged to choose sustainable alternatives like Who Gives A Crap (WGAC), which has been redefining the humble toilet roll for a decade. WGAC isn’t just about loo paper; it’s a movement. They give 50% of profits to sanitation projects, and they’re not shy about it. With products like 100% bamboo and recycled tissue, they’re proving that business can be a force for positive change.
The Green Nudge:
By leveraging Behavioral Science nudges, WGAC effectively steers consumer behaviour away from mass-produced goods towards sustainably sourced alternatives.
- Social Proof: They’re not just selling paper; they’re crafting a community. Every customer is a vote for a greener planet. They do this effectively through both their social media content and throughout the website, with a myriad of positive reviews
- Reciprocity: Offers like ‚Give $10, get $10‘ aren’t just deals – they’re a pact. You help us, we help you, and together, we help the world.
- Authority: It’s not just paper; it’s a promise. Their B Corp stamp isn’t a badge – it’s a battle standard for eco-warriors. And they have plenty of powerful, evidence backed statistics.
- Scarcity: ‚Limited time‘ isn’t a gimmick; it’s a call to action. It’s now or never for the planet.
- Emotional Appeal: Every roll has a story. It’s not just about cleaning up after – it’s about cleaning up our act globally.
With half their profits fueling the fight for global sanitation, WGAC is not just wiping away waste but wiping out water woes. They’ve raised AUD $13M+ and they’re just getting started.
Do you know of any other nudges that facilitate the adoption of sustainable product alternatives? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Nicholas Mason. At university, he delved into the psyche of society, only to discover the alchemy of Behavioral Science amidst a career in the advertising labyrinth. For over a decade and a half, he’s been decoding the esoteric ‚why‘ behind consumer behaviour. Nicholas has danced across the marketing spectrum, but it’s in the rich tapestry of BeSci where he found the Rosetta Stone for human behaviour.
Project Power Shift: Default power-down settings for computers
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Although most people try to be as sustainable as possible, it’s often easy to forget about the little actions one can take to make a significant difference – like simply turning our electronics off. This is especially true when it comes to our laptops. Instead of shutting down the device completely, we often opt to put our electronics in sleep mode. It’s easier (and faster) to just shut the laptop and walk away, rather than completely powering it down.
Organisations can not only save the energy they use, but also save money, by encouraging employees to turn off their computers at the end of the working day, through the use of green nudging techniques. Setting up automatic power downs is one way of promoting sustainable behaviours in the workplace.
The Green Nudge:
Make behaviour change easy and prime the desired behaviour by setting it up as the automatic default. An automated power down across staff computers at a particular time and outside of work hours, has encouraged organisations to save money and energy. This means that organisations don’t have to rely on their staff members to do the right thing and can set the sustainable mode to default. While this may sound drastic, other approaches were tried and tested, but found to be less effective.
For example: reminding staff and faculty members to turn off their computers by sending emails just before the end of office work hours; and posting sustainability communication on the website was NOT as successful as automating the shutdown across staff computers after work hours.
The result: Portland Community College for instance implemented Project Power Shift and switched off campus computers every night at 11pm. PCC estimates that by setting a default energy shut-down setting saves them more than $80,000 per year and several thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. It just goes to show that implementing default power down settings can save the earth and your wallet.
Are you aware of any other nudges that helps to reduce energy waste? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Madeleine Arber, a behavioural scientist at Simetrica-Jacobs. Simetrica-Jacobs is an economics consultancy company that specialises in quantifying social impacts; such as the positive benefits of green nudges, in monetary values.
The “Watching Eyes” effect on recycling behaviour
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Despite the positive impact recycling may have on our environment and existing legislation to foster it, over the last decade, the volume of municipal waste has surprisingly increased, with low recycling rates and lower quality of waste (accuracy/cleanliness). Although this can partially be due to inefficient waste collection systems; more needs to be addressed in order to improve an individual’s recycling and sorting behaviour. Like other sectors, recycling rates in the UK-higher education sector, record a declining recycling rate. This data is concerning especially considering that universities continue to produce high levels of waste per year.
Given the role that universities play to educate the youth and to complement current socio-eco efforts to increase awareness, thus the impact of different waste recycling interventions on a university site was explored.
The Green Nudge:
A vast body of literature on pro-social behaviour suggests that the presence of “eye images” positively influences human cooperation, primarily driven by concerns about reputation rather than mere attention to written or verbal instructions. While informational campaigns have generally been effective in promoting recycling participation, individuals often rely on quick, intuitive decisions and are prone to errors.
In order to better understand the direct connection between subtle observability cues and the activation of motivation to adhere to social norms, researchers conducted a field experiment. They analysed recycling behaviour under two conditions: one utilising “eye images” alone and the other combining eye images with existing written instructions. Data from these treatments were compared with a control group that received no intervention.
The result: The findings indicate that the combination of eye images with written instructions reduced recycling errors, consequently decreasing waste sent to incinerators or landfills. Conversely, the presence of eye images alone had a detrimental effect on recycling rates, leading to increased errors. These results suggest that rather than relying solely on reputational effects, the presence of eye images enhances individuals‘ attention, thereby motivating them to correctly dispose of waste.
Are you aware of any other nudges that help to improve recycling behaviour? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Lory Barile – Associate Professor at University of Warwick, specialising in Behavioural Environmental Economics, and works to promote gender equality and diversity. She represents a team of behavioural scientists at University College London and the University of Warwick as an application of a broader project designed by the Behavioural Environmental Economics Team, aimed at improving recycling rates in the local community.
Alexa nudges towards smart home energy efficiency
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Residential buildings are responsible for more than a quarter of total energy consumption in the US (EIA, 2020); and given that the majority of US and global residential properties still rely on fossil fuels, this takes a significant toll on the environment. While certain structural and mechanical measures have been taken to increase energy efficiency of residential structures, the occupants’ behaviour is also a great contributor to this high number.
Two of the main barriers are occupants’ lack of awareness of their energy usage, along with a lack of information on how they could optimise it while maintaining personal comfort. Additionally, even if residents are aware and informed, they may not remember or have the opportunity to carry out the necessary actions. Considering the increasingly popular use of smart home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, and interconnected systems of smart home appliances; herein exists an opportunity for nudging towards optimising energy efficiency within homes.
Research into how smart home assistants can help reduce the environmental impact of residential energy use, via “bidirectional dialogue,” was conducted by a small team of engineering and communications academics from Virginia Tech and Florida State University respectively.
The Green Nudge:
The proactive smart home assistant aims to optimise energy efficiency by proactively making homeowners aware of their energy usage via: informative, conversational prompts, and autonomous actuation; that would reduce the effort required of homeowners to carry out the optimising actions (ie., Alexa would turn down the heating automatically, rather than the homeowner needing to do so).
This was tested via an interactive online experiment with 307 US participants, who were provided a context-based scenario and an initial suggestion to increase energy efficiency. If participants’ responses were neutral or negative leaning to the initial suggestion (but not completely negatory), they were provided more information and tips, and their responses to this second suggestion were recorded as final.
The result: a statistically significant increase by 16% of recommendation acceptances in response to the final suggestions compared to the initial suggestions. Conclusively, this outcome creates an opening for further “bidirectional human-building interaction” research towards sustainability.
Are you aware of any other nudges that use innovative tech opportunities? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Diana Chiang, a graduate of the University of Warwick with an MSc in Behavioural and Data Science. During her time at Warwick, she served as the Research Team Lead for the Warwick Behavioural Insights Team. Currently, she works as a Behavioural Insights Content Writer for Habit Weekly, where she unearthed this great nudge.
Turtle Sticker: Combat glove overuse, boost hand hygiene
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Changes in hospital practice due to COVID-19 led to new ways of working, particularly with respect to personal protective equipment and hand hygiene. Notably the use of gloves became the (most frequented) method during the pandemic. As the world returns to a new “normal” post-pandemic, there has been a shift to return to typical pre-pandemic infection control practices, with less emphasis on glove use and more on standardised hand washing and alcohol gel use.
However, it has been observed that the previous guidelines during the height of COVID-19 are still being adhered to in audits, demonstrating an overuse of gloves. In a study conducted by the Change Lab researchers, it was identified that one of the main failures in hand hygiene compliance was the use of gloves as an alternative to hand hygiene compliance (HHC); rather than not washing/gelling hands before or after patient contact.
The Green Nudge:
Because of this the Change Lab study team hosted co-design sessions with ward staff and infection control teams. They wanted to design and develop nudges encouraging hospital staff to return to basics of hand hygiene compliance: using alcohol gels and standardised hand washing; with one of the nudges focusing on the negative environmental impact of glove overuse.
The green nudge was a co-designed sticker, a visual prime placed on the glove dispenser boxes to prompt hand hygiene compliance and minimise overuse of gloves, where appropriate. The green nudge reads “Under the sea is where gloves will be… so if you can, wash your hands instead” with an image of a turtle to represent the environment.
The result: Post-intervention, there was a statistically significant increase of 11% in HHC post-intervention. As was evident, this green nudge was a key part of a co-designed, behaviourally informed visual prime intervention effective at increasing the level of HHC at the Change Lab study site. The research team is currently scaling the 3 nudges across more hospital sites and looking at ways to contribute to the NHS Trust’s Green Plan.
Are you aware of any other nudges that help to prevent waste? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From healthcare expert Clare McCrudden. In order to develop effective nudges for improving hand hygiene compliance, she was part of a team of behavioural scientists at Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, known as Change Lab. They were tasked by a large NHS Trust in London to co-design nudges with hospital ward staff and infection control colleagues to enhance hand hygiene compliance.
Standardising takeaway-doggie bags to save uneaten restaurant food-waste
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Ever found yourself leaving food on your plate when dining out with friends? Surprisingly, this seemingly innocent action plays a big part in climate change. Each year, a staggering 1.3 billion tons of food goes to waste globally, accounting for a third of all food produced. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that food waste contributes to an equivalent of 8% of all human-produced carbon dioxide emission equivalent to 8% of all human-produced emissions. Interestingly, 12% of this waste comes from restaurant leftovers, much of which could still be eaten if stored properly.
Asking to take the rest of your meal “to-go” in a ‘doggie’ or ‘foodie bag’, is quite commonplace in the US. Conversely, doing so in Europe, particularly Italy, is rare and frankly clashes with a well-established „food culture“ that prioritises fresh, beautifully presented meals.
The Green Nudge:
To address that issue, the Italian research group Nudge Italia in collaboration with the behavioural agency “aBetterPlace” designed a Green Nudge to encourage consumers to ask for foodie bags at the restaurant, i.e. boxes that allow excess food to be taken home.
The intervention involved modifying the Default Option for restaurant leftovers. At each table, a token with both a green and red face was provided. Initially set to the green face by default, this indicated to the waiter that the diner requested to take any leftovers home. By establishing that all uneaten food be automatically taken home in a doggie bag; this action becomes effortless for consumers. This Green Nudge addresses social pressures and ultimately encourages the formation of a new habit.
The result: The intervention conducted in Italy and Switzerland led to a significant increase in the use of foodie bags. Pre-intervention, only 40% of restaurant-goers took their leftovers home, while post-intervention, this rate increased to 80%.
You can also read more details of the intervention in the academic paper published in Ergonomics International Journal or on the aBetterPlace website (in Italian though).
Are you aware of any other nudges that help to reduce food waste? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Maria Lagomarsino who represents an Italian research group Nudge Italia coordinated by Massimo Cesareo in collaboration with the Italian behavioural agency aBetterPlace.