Behavioral Psychology At Work in Cleaning Up the Environment
What happened when the facilities managers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport etched houseflies on the bottom-back of the men’s room urinals? Far less urine wound up spilled on the floor, as men had something to aim at. Certainly, the conventional approach may have been posting signs encouraging guys to be more careful, but it’s easy to understand why the housefly solution was superior. People naturally want to engage in it.
The same can be said about “Goby,” the huge fish sculpture here, and the sign that reads, “Please feed Goby. He LOVES plastic!” Which sounds more engaging: Goby, or dozens of boring trash cans?
This is the genius behind the late-night television shows of Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and others. We naturally engage with sources of entertainment, but isn’t it better when we come away informed and motivated as well?
Craig,
Ah ha, that figures, yes a steady diet of watching exclusively the “genius” of Stephen Colbert and John Oliver would give anyone a distinctly distorted view of the nation and the world!
Throw in a devotion to snippets from the Guardian and facebook, for good measure, and the narrow prism is complete.
I like the idea of the fish, but my first impression is wondering how the refuse collector empties such a design and cleans the interior?
However, you are quite right, often an imaginative,creative and fun approach will be better receive than grim authoritive admonishment.