Nudging Towards Environmentally Friendly Options
Consider driving to work yourself every working day without ever fully investigating or coming to know of other easier options. Less stressful, environmentally friendly and health friendly options such as using a bus, cycling or carpooling were never pondered carefully for their benefits. How can you get good advice at the right time to change your behaviour? This problem does not only occur with transportation but with many of the decisions we make daily. Examples include how to maintain a nutritious diet, take a COVID-19 vaccine, buy environmentally friendly products, purchase products that are produced by workers who are treated well, whether to vote in an election, quit smoking, properly reuse, reduce and recycle products after their usage, etc. Nudging consists of techniques that can help people make good decisions that help themselves, others and the environment without being forced to change behaviour as a result of expensive pricing signals or government regulatory methods. This more gentle approach is sometimes desired when heavy handed regulatory and/or taxation methods are deemed not to work well or result in significant opposition.
Basics of Nudging
A nudging approach consists of several steps. First is the establishment of a goal such as the use of more environmentally-friendly transportation options. Second is the collection of profile data for an individual such as interests, behaviours, and capabilities. Profile information helps determine what suggestions to make and what to exclude. For example, if the user has a physical disability it might be wise to exclude certain modes of transportation such cycling. In addition, the profile of a person should attempt to learn about the person from past decisions making an intelligent model of the person over time. Third, pertinent information related to suggestions should be collected and analyzed. For the transportation nudging example, this would consist of historical data (eg. traffic congestion history), current data (eg. current footpath conditions, traffic conditions, current location of a bus, etc.), plans (bus schedules, infrastructure maintenance, other events which affect traffic, etc.) and predictions (eg. weather predictions). Finally, all of this information needs to be used in the nudge design process to determine a nudge option to suggest (eg. carpooling versus taking a bus versus cycling) and specifying information to illustrate the advantage of the selected option (eg. advantages of cycling over taking a car). The user then decides whether to pursue this nudge option. The results of this decision are fed back into the user’s profile so that an intelligent model of the user can be built. Below I focus on nudging options that can help the environment.
Environmental Nudging Worldwide
Here are some examples of environmental nudging from around the world.
The US government sent letters to those using lots of electricity indicating that their neighbours used less. This helped reduce electricity consumption. In another example, reducing plate sizes at hotels by 2 inches and providing signs to reduce waste helped reduce food waste by over 20%. The UN `Environment Program has released a guide of 40 green nudges in a guide entitled “The Little Book of Green Nudges” targeting university campuses worldwide. Examples include making plant-based dishes the default and requiring pre-ordering of other dishes such as red meat, adding a fee for using disposable cups to encourage the use of reusable mugs, and providing a list ranking students by their consumption of energy and water.
Environmental Nudging in Canada
In Canada, recent research has shown that a 5 cent levy on plastic bags in the City of Toronto increased the use of reusable bags by 3.4 percent. The study also found that the increase was mostly from those with a high socio-economic status. A Government of Canada website has acknowledged this difference between groups noting that nudging can be assisted by targeting certain groups (eg. new parents, seniors, rural communities, etc.) within the entire population with appropriate interventions for that group. The website suggests the use of machine learning to assist with this targeting.
In another example, recent research conducted for Oshawa Power found that up to 10% of domestic energy consumption could be shifted from peak periods using a combination of smart meters, dynamic tariffs, and customer engagement.
Next Steps
Both the federal government and the provincial government have in-house behavioural insights teams that work on establishing appropriate nudging tactics.
The government of Canada’s nudge unit – known as the Impact and Innovation Unit – was created in 2017 and has included environmental problems in its domain. The recent Impact and Innovation Unit report released in 2020 does discuss environment-friendly programs including reducing food waste and sustainable mining but more environment-friendly nudging programs are needed.
The Ontario nudge unit – the Behavioural Insights Unit (BIU) – created in 2015 released a 2020 report indicating that Ontario does not have any nudging projects underway tied to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks but does have projects tied to other ministries such as the Ministry of Transportation, Health, Education, and Children, Community and Social Services.
Both the province and federal nudge units should work with the private sector to improve environmental outcomes through nudging when appropriate. Here are some examples which should be targeted to appropriate groups.
Let’s encourage plant-based purchases at grocery stores through the use of signage encouraging sustainable environment-friendly diets that also help customers meet the new Canada Food Guide recommendations.
Let’s convince restaurants to encourage reusable takeout containers for takeout purchases to avoid purchasing and using single use plastics. This might be done through the use of a small fee for using single use plastics.
Let’s also encourage diners at restaurants to eat plant-based meals by rewarding them with a special drink or small restaurant coupon for future purchases.
Let’s encourage the use of reduced electricity consumption by sending letters to residents of high-consuming homes indicating that their consumption is high relative to others in their neighbourhood.
Let’s encourage the use of electric vehicles by working with car dealers to make sure they emphasize the benefits of zero emission purchases or leases.
Let’s provide smart meters which show real time usage of electricity, water, and gas showing consumption and costs to ultimately reduce usage.
Let’s encourage citizens to pledge that they will adopt environmentally friendly actions such as reducing electricity use. Some recognition can be provided to those who fulfill their pledge commitment.
Let’s provide a small perk to someone who has referred another to make an environmentally friendly decision after making this decision himself/herself (eg. such as purchasing an electric vehicle)
Let’s encourage new Canadians to adopt environmentally friendly practices by providing them with information on how this can be done in their province of residence.
These and other nudging options can be used to encourage environmentally sound actions solely or alongside regulations and taxation measures.
