Four “Nudges” to Green Your Office
By Melissa J. Anderson
Have you heard about the behavioral economic idea of the “nudge”?
Popularized by economists Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, a nudge is basically an arrangement that points people in a certain direction when they are given a choice. For example, in Thaler and Sunstein’s book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, the two authors explain how putting fresh fruit, rather than desserts, closer to eye level in a cafeteria serving line influences students to make healthier lunch choices. The placement of the fruit doesn’t take the choice of dessert away – it just “nudges” students toward the healthier decision.
A new report by Ecoalign, an energy and environment marketing agency, details how businesses can employ nudges to help consumers improve energy conservation. The report, prepared by Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics at Yale University, explains that nudges do not change behavior. They serve as helpful reminders for an individual, of what he or she, in theory, wants to do – making it easier to overcome a short-term moment of weakness or laziness in the face of a long-term decision, for example, to eat better or recycle more.
Here are four ways that you can use nudges to help make your office more environmentally sustainable.
1. Make it Easy
A simple way to keep your staff recycling is simply placing recycling bins close to the trash cans. Most employees want to do the right thing and reduce waste – but if it’s more difficult to recycle, individuals are less likely to do it. It seems obvious, and it is. That’s all nudges are – ways to make a good choice easier to do.
2. Keep Them Informed
The report explains how informing consumers about how much energy they are actually using can help decrease energy use.
For example, the report discusses a study in which individuals were asked to set goals for natural gas use, and then given different levels of feedback on their performance. The ones given the most feedback were the most successful at meeting their goals. The frequent reminder that they were working to decrease energy use nudged them toward more energy-efficient practices.
Set a goal for energy reduction with your team, and keep them informed about progress – the more feedback the better. Keep your team updated on their energy usage once a day or once a week and let them know how they’re making progress.
3. Use Default Settings
In their book, Thaler and Sunstein talk about how default settings can be used to influence behavior – most people simply go along with defaults rather than make other choices. You can take advantage of this kind of behavior to green your office.
For example, set printer defaults to eco-friendly options (like front and back printing to decrease paper use) or computer power options to the energy-saver default. Individuals still have the choice to change these options to suit their needs – like changing printer settings to one side only for presentations or client deliverables – but on the whole, using default settings is an easy way to be more green.
4. Point Out Compliance Levels
Thaler and Sunstein point out how positive social influence can nudge people in the right direction. For example, they discuss a real-world experiment in which groups of Minnesota taxpayers were given reasons for fulfilling tax obligations – that the money went to public works, the penalties for non-compliance, and that 90% of Minnesotans followed the tax law.
The last reason – that most people followed tax laws – was the only one that had a significant effect. Thaler and Sunstein write:
“Apparently some taxpayers are more likely to violate the law because of a misperception – plausibly based on the availability of media or other accounts of cheaters – that the level of compliance is pretty low. When informed that the actual compliance level is pretty high, they become less likely to cheat.”
You can take advantage of this principle in your office – if you already have a pretty high percentage of employees taking part in sustainability initiative, communicate that to your entire staff and the laggards will be more inclined to join. For example – keep track of employees using reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones.
Most of these seem easy and obvious – that’s because they are. Nudges are the little things we can do to help make the right decision easier. Most employees are willing to help the planet or help the company save on energy costs. But a busy, hectic workday can keep them from taking the extra steps to do so. Making it easy for your staff to make sustainable choices can improve participation in green initiatives and yield better results than a top down directive to “be more green.” Nominate an enthusiastic team or office champion to implement the nudges and see what happens. They’re not labor intensive and generally cost-free – what do you have to lose?