Children’s Clean Air Network

Ron Zima is on a mission. He is determined to stop unnecessary vehicle idling. Several years ago, Ron had an awakening. One day he suddenly realized that the right of all people, but especially of children, to breathe clean air, was being compromised by idling vehicle engines. Suddenly, he was seeing them everywhere: at his […]

Composting Surprise – Some Things Do Not Change

When we conducted our backyard composting research in the Township of Langley, we found something that we had found 17 years earlier, but on the other side of the country, in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. The finding is a very important one for fostering backyard composting among people who do not currently compost. When it […]

Backyard Composting Surprises 2

When we did our survey research for the Backyard Composting Project in the Township of Langley, BC, we found some surprising and interesting facts. For instance, although 55% of the people surveyed reported that they used a kitchen sink disposal unit, there was no difference in the incidence of composting between those who used them […]

The Walrus

Community-based Social Marketing is the subject of a story in the October issue of The Walrus (http://www NULL.walrusmagazine NULL.com/articles/2010 NULL.10-frontier-human-nature). The story uses Nova Scotia’s Waste Management Program (http://www NULL.gov NULL.ns NULL.ca/nse/waste/) as a backdrop to an interesting discussion on how behavioural psychology has been successfully incorporated into a wide variety of environmental programs.

Getting from verbal to written to public commitments

A while back I promised to tell you how to ramp up the power of commitments in a very simple manner. Here we go! First, remember that verbal commitments are fine, but written commitments are stronger, and public commitments are much more powerful yet. So, imagine yourself speaking to someone in their yard, promoting a […]