Rational motivations
strongly linked to climate change
(i) Awareness
and knowledge
All respondents were aware
that climate change and environmental issues are topical;
and, as such, are (or might be) problems that need addressing. Where there was a more
detailed understanding about the issues, this tended to increase engagement, sense of
personal responsibility and consequent action. However, this was not universal;
knowledge had not always moved respondents forward in to action.
However, understanding
that some actions are less damaging than others (i.e.
perceptions of the relative impact on the environment) facilitated and drove choices
amongst some (more motivated) individuals to reduce their personal negative impact.
Rational motivations
partly linked to climate change
As mentioned above, a
range of other rational motivations were driving appropriate
behaviour within this sample. While these considerations were sometimes consciously
linked to climate change, this tended to be an afterthought, or an associated benefit,
rather than top of mind.
Raising consciousness
of worthiness to climate change by hooking in to some of the
motivators identified below can encourage and endorse action, but this is not always
necessary, as some behaviours can be adopted as the right thing to do without extensive
reasoning or justification.
Preserving Wales
Protecting and preserving
the local (regional or national) Welsh environment was
found to be of great importance to many in Wales.
For some this was about
conserving the ‘local beauty’, which was felt to be a defining
feature of their lives, either in terms of heritage or through active choice to reside in
Wales. For others, including some of those just mentioned, the focus on protection was
driven by concerns about, and/or past experience of, specific environmental damage
(for example through local industry polluting).
Retaining a beautiful
or unspoilt Wales contributed to a sense of having a good quality
of life and ownership of cultural treasure (or indeed something less defined but
nevertheless something good). This was seen as an important aspect of the future for
their own children as well as future generations. As such, this helped to motivate both
consideration of (and doing) active conserving and protecting behaviour; and, in some
cases, encouraged an interest in/support of local development issues.
“It’s a lovely landscape, people have got to look after it better”
[Female, D, 36-45, Older Family, Estate/Valleys, Blenau Gwent - CG]
Therefore, while not always
linked directly to environmental thinking or climate change,
for some of the target audience this seems to offer real potential as an access point
through which they could be persuaded to consider making more of a difference.
Fits personal interest/
preferences
A number of respondents
had hobbies or shopping preferences which drove
environmentally friendly behaviour. While some linked these choices/activities to
climate change, this tended to be a secondary consideration (and for some did not
feature at all). Specifically:
- Complementary hobbies included health/fitness/exercise,
e.g. walking, cycling, or
linked to the environment itself, e.g. gardening, local litter collection.
- Complementary ethical choices included
supporting local, ‘small’ or ethical
economies because it fits well with one’s own ethos, e.g. buying local produce/
from co-operatives, or British goods.
- Complementary quality/health choices included
making food selections based on
better quality/taste, such as buying organic and/or local for freshness/taste.
Raising consciousness
of these activities and choices as valuable in relation to
preventing climate change tends to help endorse rationale for ‘positive choices’ and
cement behaviour.
Fits with lifestyle
Environmentally friendly
behaviours which were perceived as easy to do and/or
required little or no compromise in terms of time and/or effort required were found to
be more likely to be adopted. In some cases great effort had been required initially, but
over time a behaviour had become habit.
“They are part of our routine now, so no problem at all”
[Male, ABC1, 46, Older Family, Mkt Town, Flintshire - EF]
Development of habits
was sometimes driven initially by a perception of a negative
impact on one’s personal quality of life if one doesn’t comply, such as mess from
overflowing bins.
“Not trouble to do. It has to be done, as they only collect the ‘normal’
bin every 2 weeks now, and the recycling
boxes every week, so otherwise your normal bin would be overflowing if you didn’t recycle properly.
I never fail.
I always make sure everything goes in the right place”
[Male, C2, 25, Co-habit, Wrexham - CWC]
Both awareness and availability of local waste schemes and activities were
reported to be a great enabler for many, particularly door to door collection
schemes, but also supermarket recycling banks. The majority of this sample were
more reactive than proactive.
More proactive consumers
were not only found to be making best use of local
collection schemes, but were also more aware of and actively using other schemes and
facilities offered locally to fill the gaps left by local collection, such as all types of
recycling at the local tip and various re-using centres. This was more markedly
developed in some areas, such as Powys, where proactive recycling and use of local
facilities appeared to be quite long term for some. However, for most there was
evidence of remaining gaps in their knowledge, such as the recycling of more obscure
items like batteries and paint.
Many connected these activities
as positive in the context of climate change issues. For
some, however, recycling was thought to be more about reducing waste (being
efficient) or providing alternative disposal to landfill (need new solution) rather than
specifically contributing to reducing/preventing damage to the environment and
climate change.
Again, raising consciousness
of recycling and reuse as worthy in the context of climate
change can endorse these activities as right behaviour. However, this is not always
necessary – behaviours can be followed as the right thing to do without extensive
reasoning or justification.
