Association for Behavior Analysis International

Eco-feedback technology provides consumers with information related to their resource (energy, water, food) consumption with the aim of promoting environmentally-responsible behavior. This talk will survey behavior analysts past, present, and potential future conceptual and applied contributions to eco-feedback. The audience will learn about popular and cutting edge eco-feedback technologies and related opportunities for behavior analysts across various sectors, including transportation (in-vehicle feedback regarding fuel efficiency), residential (home energy and water reports and energy management technology), and commercial/cross-sector (digital dashboards and informational art installations). The talk will also introduce an interdisciplinary theory of effective eco-feedback.

Thompson (2010) argued that humans should mitigate the effects of climate change, must adapt to them, yet likely will suffer from them. Progress toward technological solutions seems apparent. Nevertheless, atmospheric gases surpass critical levels and changing weather patterns create havoc causing substantial suffering. Skinner (1974) argued that technology alone would not solve our problems. Human behaviors effect on sustainability has been observed for decades, with calls for behavioral solutions along with the technological. Still, effective methods to change behavior elude environmental scientists. The essentiality of behavior is unsurprising to behavior analysts, and we have successfully increased eco-friendly behavior. Promisingly, Alavosius et al. (2016) cogently argues to extend a focus on individual behavior into organizations and policies. Yet, the impact of behavior analysis on sustainability science and policy remains relatively small. Why? Sustainability science needs a behavioral model that connects common individual acts to outcomes that impact the global climate on a glacial time scale. In this paper, I argue that disposing waste conceptualized as the choice to recycle or trash could provide an effective model. Conceptualized as choice, behavioral recycling provides a convenient research protocol, avails a substantial research body, and provides promise for contributing to mainstream sustainability science.