Abstract
Composting systems are poised to make a significant impact on waste-management strategies and greatly contribute to global sustainability efforts. However, risk of contamination by potentially detrimental compounds must be overcome before these systems can be widely adopted. Behavior analytic approaches to waste disposal adherence have consisted of antecedent and consequence strategies; many such strategies require continual oversight and significant investment of resources to maintain effectiveness. This project describes a field study that investigated a purely antecedent-based approach to nudge proper organic recycling on a university campus. Using a multiple-baseline design across dining sites, we demonstrate the efficacy of enhanced compost bins (i.e., green colored bins with a hinged door and an accompanying placard indicating site-specific materials that can and cannot be composted) to reduce product contamination by inorganic or unsuitable organic refuse. Implications for future research and suggestions for university implementation are discussed.
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Notes
In the Thaler and Sunstein framework (2008; p. 6), nudges are “any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid.” As behavior analysts, we interpret this concept as an antecedent-based intervention grounded in behavioral science, with a high degree of social validity and maintenance effects.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Chris Brown, Jeff Severin, Nona Golledge, Sheryl Kidwell, Alecia Stultz, Kirby Ostrander, and the KU Dining Services and staff for their institutional support in this project, as well as Lydia Gibson and Missouri Organic Recycling for project materials and assistance. This project was supported and funded by the University of Kansas Environmental Studies Ruben Zadigan Scholarship and a KU Undergraduate Research Award awarded to the first author.
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This project was supported and funded by the University of Kansas Environmental Studies Ruben Zadigan Scholarship and a KU Undergraduate Research Award awarded to the first author.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was unnecessary given the absence of individual participant data collection and sole reliance on outcome data (e.g., refuse/compost weights).
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David Szczucinski declares that he has no conflict of interest. Brett W. Gelino declares that he has no conflict of interest. Christopher J. Cintron declares that he has no conflict of interest. Amel Becirevic declares that he has no conflict of interest. Derek D. Reed declares that he has no conflict of interest.
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• This work represents a replication of the efficacy of antecedent intervention for increasing sustainable behavior.
• The methods depicted herein demonstrate a low cost, low demand strategy for influencing behavior by adhering to a nudge-type framework—a relatively novel contribution to the behavior analytic sustainability literature.
• This study extends the existing body of literature with respect to behavior analysis and ecological responsibility, and provides a potential framework for similar work.
• The topic of the current work—composting—has thus far remained unmentioned through much of the behavior analytic work in sustainability. This study provides a novel approach for examination of composting-type behavior.
• The outcome of this research provides evidence for an easily implemented strategy to promote sustainability and ecological responsibility within an organizational setting.
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Szczucinski, D., Gelino, B.W., Cintron, C.J. et al. Increasing Appropriate Composting in High-Traffic University Settings. Behav Analysis Practice 13, 22–28 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00358-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00358-1