Is Focusing on Behavior Change Worth The Time?

How Do We Achieve Rapid Decarbonization?

I attended a sustainability retreat on deep decarbonization this past week, and one professor proclaimed, “this is why we don’t focus on behavior change at the individual level”, rather she was eluding to the presence of coalitions and policy as the best path to move forward into rapid decarbonization.

How Do We Move the Masses Into Action?

This made me question the past decade of my career, where I have spent a great deal of time focusing on behavior change in the workplace, and with most everyone who resides in the Northern Colorado! I work with students, residents and business owners with the belief that I can teach them a better way. My biggest questions have been, how do we get people to recycle correctly? How do we get people to care? And finally, how do we move the masses into action?

Not All Engagment is Created Equal

I have always been passionate about my outreach efforts, seeing results that make a difference.  When implementing an energy reduction challenge in 2018, I worked with employees one on one, mining for energy savings in individual work spaces. We sent out a pre-survey, asking about current behaviors. I spent a minimum of 30 minutes with 60 plus employees performing audits of their workspaces, as well as hosted a series of events for employees to attend. Employees were then asked to self-report the changes they made to unplug and turn off electronics for 30 days. We then sent a post survey out to identify any changes in self-reported behavior and feelings. We had almost 2000 actions and were able to reduce energy by 5% in one months’ time through these outreach efforts.

I hosted a similar challenge this year, but adjusted the communications to email only, three prior to the launch, then a weekly email with a call to action to unplug and turn off anything that used electricity when not in use. It was up to department supervisors to rally the employees and send the importance of the message.  We had 60% less folks document/participate in the 30-day challenge. Post challenge, I walked around to collect the self-reporting documents. Several people said they did not participate because they were still doing the same actions from last year, so nothing new was being reduced.  The majority of those who did not give a reason for non-participation were newer to the company and/or younger in age (under 35

Infrastructure and Policy

While the challenge asked for the same actions from individuals, two different results occurred via outreach efforts. Another avenue could have been for the company to skip engagement efforts all together and invest in upgraded lighting fixtures and equipment. The return would be in less than 2 years, in most cases. OR, the government could put policy in place where the building had to implement programs that focuses on energy efficient upgrades and a sealed envelope and insulation by a certain time period.  Infrastructural improvements would be more costly up front, but yield quicker ROI, rather than depend on employees. Additionally, the biggest saving opportunity for the building is with infrastructure improvements- the employees can’t control.

Doing What is Right- Doing it All

However, employee engagement, when done right, builds community. It opens doors for employees to get to know one another on a new level.  It shows that business is not only about production, but rather can be a catalyst to teach others to do things that reduce our impact on the environment. Employee engagement empowers people and shows them how individual actions add up to make a big difference. IT IS NOT ALL OR NOTHING. Communities need to incorporate all the tools- employee engagement, building upgrades, coalitions, policy. These areas of focus are absolutely necessary to rapidly decarbonize our community.