Comments on: The upside of confronting your trash http://www.nuncscio.com/2009/07/03/the-upside-of-confronting-your-trash/ Politics. Media. Culture. Now you know. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:34:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jane http://www.nuncscio.com/2009/07/03/the-upside-of-confronting-your-trash/comment-page-1/#comment-11699 Jane Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:49:35 +0000 http://www.nuncscio.com/?p=2908#comment-11699 One other nudge that springs to mind that was implemented in the past few weeks in Toronto is the five cent fee on plastic bags for retail purchases. The change in people's behaviour was immediately observable. Rather than automatically and unthinkingly accepting a plastic bag for each purchase, people now have occasion to consider their real need for a plastic bag with many people choosing to simply carry their purchases or bring along their own bags. The few times I have seen someone purchase a bag, it has been accompanied by some muttered explanation about needing them for pets or similar. The change in behaviour cannot be simply explained by the nominal and, for many, insignificant cost. Rather than providing an economic disincentive, the fee represents, as you've called it, a "social sanction", or a regulation that, while maintaining personal choice, communicates that use of plastic bags is no longer the accepted norm. One other nudge that springs to mind that was implemented in the past few weeks in Toronto is the five cent fee on plastic bags for retail purchases. The change in people’s behaviour was immediately observable. Rather than automatically and unthinkingly accepting a plastic bag for each purchase, people now have occasion to consider their real need for a plastic bag with many people choosing to simply carry their purchases or bring along their own bags. The few times I have seen someone purchase a bag, it has been accompanied by some muttered explanation about needing them for pets or similar.

The change in behaviour cannot be simply explained by the nominal and, for many, insignificant cost. Rather than providing an economic disincentive, the fee represents, as you’ve called it, a “social sanction”, or a regulation that, while maintaining personal choice, communicates that use of plastic bags is no longer the accepted norm.

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