While the United Nations’ climate top is in full swing in Egypt, news articles are whizzing around. The general trend is: we are doing too little, too slowly. This makes people worried, scared, frustrated, angry, and powerless, says Merve Alabak, researcher at the department of Social Psychology. And whereas you can say to someone who is afraid of spiders that such a small animal is not going to bite you, fear of the consequences of climate change can’t be taken away so easily. “After all, there is good reason to be worried.”
Step by step
This is not a bad thing, up to a certain point. “Negative feelings can prompt one to action.” But how can you prevent yourself from becoming depressed or becoming so dispirited that you actually don’t undertake anything? “Strengthen the feeling that you have the power to change things.”
Talking to others can help, say students in the audience. “Then you don’t feel so alone.” One of them feels that a quote from civil rights activism is applicable here too: “Not every action has an immediate effect, but each step must be taken. Or, the fact that you are a flexitarian, won’t immediately change the meat industry, but in the process towards less intensive cattle breeding, it is a step that must be taken.
Three earths
Sometimes, it seems difficult to make the right choices; something that is good for the environment often means forfeiting comfort and ease. But when they really think about it, most people know exactly what is important and what is not, says Laura Niessen, whose PhD research at the Maastricht Sustainability Institute looks at companies who stimulate customers to buy less. “Is it necessary to go on holidays? Yes. Is it necessary to fly to your destination? No. Is it necessary to fly when you want to visit your grandmother who is dying? Yes. We know what a real necessity is.”
This doesn’t take away from the fact that most people could do more and should do more – if everyone lived like the average Dutch person, we would need three earths, according to Niessen. How do you manage that? “Look at what works for different groups.” A stubborn conservative won’t be told that he can’t fly anymore, but he might be inclined to support the local farmer. The bargain hunter who watches what he spends, won’t be kept away from the Pound Shop, but might be inclined to go to a repair café.
Waste in the correct container
If you want to change certain behaviour, then remember that a complex problem never has a simple solution, says social psychologist Gill ten Hoor. As an example, he mentions the separation of waste at Maastricht University. Some years ago, UM installed separate bins for paper, plastic and non-separable waste. Students are very motivated to separate waste. Still this often goes wrong. How is that possible? “After a long search, I found an information leaflet,” says Ten Hoor, pointing to the screen where it says ‘trash it right’. “Who has seen this before?” Nobody raises a hand. “I realised when I found this that I had been throwing my cans in the wrong bin, they should go with plastic, not with non-separable waste. But it just says ‘plastic’ on the bin. You should be able to find this information everywhere – people don’t know where to throw their rubbish.”
So, take all factors into consideration, says Ten Hoor. “Use the theory, ask a behavioural therapist to take a look, and make sure that an idea is not just implemented, but also maintained. Take, for example, the footsteps in this building that lead to the stairs. They encourage people to take the stairs instead of the lift. That works really well, but after a time the stickers fade and nobody has bothered to replace them. Who is responsible for that? That is something you have to think about right at the start.”