Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:01:00.472Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Review of, and Research Suggestions for, Solid-waste Management Issues: The Predicted Role of Incentives in Promoting Conservation Behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Joel T. Heinen
Joel T. Heinen
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University Park, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Several lines of evidence suggest that humans may be sensitive to the scale at which environmental problems occur, and that humans perceive to be more urgent those environmental problems that happen over relatively shorttime duration and at relatively local-spatial scales, compared with those that happen over greater spans of time and space. If this is true, then solutions to environmental problems should be planned accordingly: i.e. incentive-based strategies to promote some type of conservation may be more easily implemented, and most appropriately socially-based, for environmental problems that occur at the smaller societal scales. For those that occur at the larger societal scales, incentive-based strategies may be most appropriately economically-based, and are likely to be more difficult to implement, than the socially-based ones at the smaller societal scales.

This theory is explored in the context of municipal solid wastes. There is some support for the general arguments in that various types of economic incentives have been effective in reducing household wastes across the scale of cities, and some more socially-based incentives appear to be effective in small town/neighbourhood settings, though much work on these issues remains to be done.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , Summer 1995 , pp. 157 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Alexander, J.H. (1993). In Defense of Garbage. Praeger, West-Port, Connecticut, USA: xii + 239 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Anderson, T.L. & Leal, D.R. (1991). Free Market Environmentalism. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: xii + 192 pp.Google Scholar
Andrews, R.N.L. (1988). Environmental impact assessment and risk assessment: learning from each other. Pp. 85–97, in Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice (Ed. Wathern, P.). Unwin Hyman, London, England, UK: xviii + 332 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Anon. (1990 a). Recycling in the States: Mid-Year Update 1990. National Solid Waste Management Association, Washington, DC, USA: 14 pp.Google Scholar
Anon. (1990 b). The Future of Newspaper Recycling. National Solid Waste Management Association, Washington, DC, USA: 12 pp.Google Scholar
Blumberg, L. & Gottlieb, R. (1989). War on Waste: Can America Win its Battle with Garbage? Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xxiii + 301 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Buchholz, R.A., Marcus, A.A. & Post, J.E. (1992). Managing Environmental Issues: A Casebook. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA: xviii + 286 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Buck, S.J. (1991). Understanding Environmental Administration and Law. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xvi +199 pp.Google Scholar
Carless, J. (1992). Taking out the Trash: A No-Nonsense Guide to Recycling. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: x + 249 pp.Google Scholar
Chilton, K. (1992). Do We Need A Federal Garbage Man? Reason Foundation, Los Angeles, California, USA: Report Nr 137, 41 pp.Google Scholar
City of Ann Arbor (1989). Multi-family Housing Solid Waste Final Report. Unpublished Report, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: 25 pp.Google Scholar
Commitee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (1990). Our Changing Planet: The FY 1991 Research Plan. US Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA: 169 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Connett, P.H. (1991). The disposable society. Pp. 99–122 in Ecology, Economics, Ethics: The Broken Circle (Eds Borman, F.H. & Kellert, S.P.). Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA: xviii + 233 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Cook, S.W. & Berrenberg, J.L. (1981). Approaches to encouraging conservation behavior: a review and conceptual framework. Journal of Social Issues, 37(2), pp. 73–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowfoot, J.E. & Wondolleck, J.M. (1990). Environmental Disputes: Community Involvement in Conflict Resolution. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xvii + 274 pp.Google Scholar
Denison, R.A. & Ruston, J. (1990). Recycling and Incineration: Evaluating the Choices. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xxi + 322 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
DeYoung, R. (1985–1986). Encouraging environmentally appropriate behavior: the role of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Environmental Systems, 15(4), pp. 281–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeYoung, R. (1986). Some psychological aspects of recycling: the structure of conservation satisfactions. Environment and Behavior, 18, pp. 435–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeYoung, R. (1988–1989). Exploring the differences between recyclers and non-recyclers: the role of information. Journal of Environmental Systems, 18(4), pp. 341–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeYoung, R. (1990). Recycling as appropriate behavior: a review of survey data from selected recycling education programs in Michigan. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 3, pp. 1–13.Google Scholar
DeYoung, R. (1993). Changing behavior and making it stick: the conceptualization and management of conservation behavior. Environment and Behavior, 25(4), pp. 485–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeYoung, R., Duncan, A., Frank, J., Gill, N., Rothman, S., Shenot, J., Shotkin, A. & Zweizig, M. (1993). Promoting source reduction behavior: the role of motivational information. Environment and Behavior, 25(1), pp. 70–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeYoung, R., Boerschig, S., Carney, S., Dillenbeck, A., Elster, M., Horst, S., Kleiner, B. & Thomson, B. (1995). Recycling in multi-family dwellings: increasing participation and decreasing contamination. Population and Environment, 16, pp. 253–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elkington, J., Hailes, J. & Makower, J. (1990). The Green Consumer. Penguin Books, New York, NY, USA: xii + 342 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Fischer, K. & Schot, J. (1993). Environmental Strategies for Industry: International Perspectives on Research Needs and Policy Implications. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: x + 389 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Francis, P.L., Horne, L.W., Knoerl, M.C., Lamey, R., Montgomery, C.J. & Perkins, R. (1991). Environmental Inequity in the Detroit Tri-county Area: A Report of the 1990 Detroit Area Study. University of Michigan School of Natural Resources, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: 115 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Geller, E.S. (1980). Saving environmental resources through waste reduction and recycling: how the behavioral community psychologists can help. Pp. 55–102 in Helping in the Community: Behavioral Applications (Eds Geller, G.L. & Osborne, J.G.). Plenum Press, New York, NY, USA: 377 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geller, E.S. (1981). Waste reduction and resource recovery: strategies for energy conservation. Pp. 115–54 in Advances in Environmental Psychology, Volume III (Eds Baum, A. & Singer, J.E.). Erlaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, USA: 350 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Gore, A. (1992). Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: 407 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Hannon, B. (1990). Biological time value. Mathematical Biosciences, 100, pp. 115–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heinen, J.T. (1993). Park-people relations in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: a socio-economic analysis. Environmental Conservation, 20(1), pp. 25–34, 2 figs and 6 tables.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinen, J.T. (1994 a). A human behavioral ecological perspective on the issue of garbage. Human Ecology Review, 1(1), pp. 56–61.Google Scholar
Heinen, J.T. (1994 b). Emerging, diverging, and converging paradigms on sustainable development. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 1, pp. 22–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinen, J.T. & Low, R.(‘B.’) S. (1992). Human behavioural ecology and environmental conservation. Environmental Conservation, 19(2), pp. 105–16, fig. and table.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hocking, M.B. (1991). Paper versus polystyrene: a complex choice. Science, 251, pp. 504–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, J. (1990). An experimental apartment recycling program. Resource Recycling, 9(6), pp. 30–2.Google Scholar
Kane, H. & Starke, L. (1992). Time for Change: A New Approach to Environment and Development. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xii + 141 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA: xii + 340 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Katzev, R.D. & Pardini, A.U. (1987–1988). The comparative effectiveness of reward and commitment approaches in motivating community recycling. Journal of Environmental Systems, 17(2), pp. 93–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, R. (‘B.’) S. & Heinen, J.T. (1993). Population, resources, and environment: implications of human behavioral ecology for conservation. Population and Environment, 15(1), pp. 7–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, B.[R.] S. & Ridley, M. (1994). Why we're not environmental altruists-and what we can do about it. Human Ecology Review, 1, pp. 107–36.Google Scholar
Makower, J. (1993). The E Factor: The Bottom Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business. Times Books, New York, NY, USA: 292 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Malaspina, M., Schafer, K. & Wiles, R. (1992). What Works: Air Pollution Solutions. The Environmental Exchange, Washington, DC, USA: Report Nr 1, 113 pp.Google Scholar
McClelland, L. & Cook, S.W. (1980). Energy conservation in university buildings: encouraging and evaluating reductions in occupants' electricity use. Evaluation Review, 4, pp. 119–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohai, P. (1992). Men, women, and the environment: an examination of the gender gap in environmental concern and activism. Society and Natural Resources, 5, pp. 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noss, R.F. (1992). Essay: issues of scale in conservation biology. Pp. 239–50 in Conservation Biology: The Theory and Practice of Nature Conservation, Preservation, and Management (Eds Fielder, P.L. & Jain, S.K.). Chapman and Hall, New York, NY, USA: xxix + 507 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Toole, R. (1988). Reforming the Forest Service. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xii + 249 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Porter, G. & Brown, J.W. (1991). Global Environmental Politics. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: xv + 208 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Rathje, W. & Murphy, C. (1992). Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage. Harper Collins, New York, NY, USA: 263 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Scarlett, L. (1991 a). A Consumer's Guide to Environmental Myths and Realities. National Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, Texas, USA: Report Nr 99,46 pp.Google Scholar
Scarlett, L. (1991 b). Integrated Waste Management: Rethinking Solid Waste Problems and Policy Options. Reason Foundation, Los Angeles, California, USA: Report Nr 128, 41 pp.Google Scholar
Stern, P.C. (1993). The Second Environmental Science: Human—Environment Interactions. AAAS Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, USA: February 15 (Text prepared for invited lecture), 22 pp. (unpubl.).Google ScholarPubMed
Stern, P.C, Dietz, T. & Kalof, L. (1993). Value orientation, gender, and environmental concern. Environment and Behavior, 25, pp. 322–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Train, R. (1993). Choosing a Sustainable Future: The Report of the National Commission on the Environment. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA: xx + 180 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Urban Ecologist (1992). Gas Guzzler Tax. The Newsletter of Urban Ecology, Spring, 1992, p. 9.Google Scholar
Vining, J. (1994). Natural laws and human nature. Human Ecology Review, 1, pp. 100–6.Google Scholar
Vining, J. & Ebreo, A. (1990). What makes a recycler? A comparison of recyclers and non-recyclers. Environment and Behavior, 22(1), pp. 55–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Resources Institute (1993). Toward Sustainable Development: A Guide to the Global Environment. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA: 385 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Young, J. (1990). Sustaining the Earth. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: x + 225 pp.Google Scholar