The effectiveness and efficiency of using normative messages to reduce waste: A real world experiment

PLoS One. 2021 Dec 23;16(12):e0261734. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261734. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Although they are only home to 16% of the global human population, high-income countries produce approximately one third of the world's waste, the majority of which goes to landfills. To reduce pressure on landfills and natural systems, environmental messaging should focus on reducing consumption. Messages that signal social norms have the potential to influence people to reduce their consumption of comfort goods, such as straws, which are not a necessity for most people. We conducted a randomized field-experiment at a marine park in Portugal to test whether different normative messages reduced visitors' paper straw use when compared to non-normative messages. We found that a message framed around a positive injunctive norm significantly reduced straw use compared to a non-normative message. We estimated that using the message at 17 park concession stands could keep over 27500 straws out of landfills annually and save the park money after two years.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Parks, Recreational*
  • Portugal
  • Social Norms*
  • Waste Management*

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.15134754.v1

Grants and funding

This work was funded by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) as part the project CIP - Refª UID/PSI/04345/2020 (Jean-Christophe Giger). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.