Looking for Ideas and Research on Native Islander Attitudes Towards Plastic Bag Ban and Other Pro Environmental Behaviors.

Hi Tina,

Just as a little side note, we did a very detailed survey at a lower-income townhouse development in Metro Vancouver. We found the residents were very supportive of recycling, they loved the planet, and they said they would do just about anything for our Mother Earth....except buy second-hand items.

There may be a socio-economic factor at play. People who feel poor may not want to do things they feel are associated with being poor. Plastic bags are used by both the rich and poor, but thrift shop clothes are pretty much just for poor people.

So, maybe you could start with having famous island personalities (musicians, painters, poets, athletes, movie stars) create one-of-a-kind cloth shopping bags. Give those away by lottery, and then interview the people who wonshow them shopping with their famous bag.

Ruben Anderson
smallanddeliciouslife.com

Tina, I shared your post with my son, who is studying Park Management and Conservation at Kansas State University. Specifically, he is learning to be a park "interpreter". I try to get people to change behavior to save energy and prevent pollution, he tries to get people to relate to the environment, so they'll appreciate it and want to conserve it. Here is his suggestion:

You should seriously tell her to look up interpretation and Tilden's principles. You have to relate to the audience and she knows the audience very well. If they value family present the family aspects of nature and show how those are impacted by trash and plastic bags. Present plastic bags as a negative toward the intangible of family. The biggest thing is that you have to relate to your audience whatever it is and to do that you have to know your audience. You can also relate to intangibles everyone can relate to like life and death or prosperity.

This corresponds to behavior change research that shows cognitive dissonance is the most effective mechanism to change behavior. So, if you can show something they value (family, eco-tourism, whatever it is) is negatively impacted by plastic bag use and trash, you might get more people to change.

I also think Ruben Anderson's idea to get famous island personalities involved is a great idea if you can do it. In the words of one of our marketing professors where I work (University of Nebraska at Omaha), we need to make these things easy, fun, and popular.

Best regards,
Jean Waters

Jean Waters
Energy and Environmental Engineer
Nebraska Business Development Center
United States
www.nbdc.unomaha.edu/energy

Thank you so much for your responses. It means a lot to me that you took time out of your day to discuss ideas.

Ruben, I appreciate your findings in the Vancouver metro study. Sometimes you have to take a step back and not judge unless you really understand someone else's values.Maybe we are all assuming something that isn't true.
I find it very interesting thrift shops have become a "fashionable" place that often you find hipsters and people of varying socioeconomic status shopping. That would be an interesting study!

I love the idea of having local "celebrities" promote the use of reusable bags. There are some amazing local artists that could possibly paint, design, and sell their own shopping bags. I am trying to write up a survey now for residents to partake about their ideas on plastic and reusable shopping bags. Questions like how often do they use a reusable shopping bags, how likely would they if one was given to them, Would a plastic bag tax make them use it more, what is the biggest challenge to using one, etc. I am using the guidelines from this book to keep me on track. If you have any ideas of what kind of questions to ask please let me know.

Jean, thank you so much for sharing this with your son. I do need to understand my audience more. I do know that a lot of locals don't have cars and catch rides whenever they can. It is very convenient to get plastic bags when you can't plan your routine to work and back. I think doing surveys and having conversations will help.
How would you suggest showing people that plastic bags, eco tourism and family is related? A video, picture, or posters? I believe pamphlets don't work and pictures just scare people and make them feel hopeless.

This all comes down to a bigger issue. Large amounts of garbage on the streets, parks, and beaches. I often hear tourists comment on how sad it is. Is this because people don't feel connected to the island, say workers who don't really live here but work here? They don't connect with this environment and see it only as resource? Also there is a big disconnect between the local parts of the island and the ex pat/ touristy parts of the island. There are some signs, "TCI, beautiful by nature," "ecotourism is the way," which may be helping in small amounts. I also find that the check out people are annoyed with reusable shopping bags and often make me pack my own, which I don't mind, but others might find this discouraging.
I would love to put on a program at local schools. Does anyone know of successful school campaigns on littering or plastic bags? How do you relate to children? Through activities or a play of some sort?

Again, so many ideas but don't know where to start. Would love any feedback!
Tina


Tina Randall
Pacific University
United States

I recently saw a documentary on somewhere in Africa where the local river and township were inundated in plastic bags. One solution was to pay people for collecting them and then, melting the bags together with sand, making bricks out of the resultant product. The bricks were used to pave the township, thus overcoming problems of dust and mud.

Christopher Foley-Jones
Mr.
Inner East Primary Care Partnership
Australia