Sustainable Household - Ecoliving

Positive Peer Pressure Could be the Key to Cutting Household Rubbish

At BRITA, we recently commissioned a new behaviour change pilot study with our charity partner Keep Britain Tidy that showed making waste reduction the social norm can lower household general waste by up to 27%, and simply worded reminders about the cost of dealing with the rubbish we generate can cut it by 13%.


To support the results, we also ran a survey with YouGov that found that Christmas is one of the most wasteful times of the year with almost three quarters (72%) of UK adults concerned by the amount of waste generated over the Christmas period, but only 9% using recyclable wrapping paper and cards every year, and less than a third (26%) planning meals over the Christmas period and only buying the food they need.

More than 6,000 of Britian’s most wasteful households in two local authority areas, Oxford and Cheltenham, were involved in the pilot, which explored how different interventions or messages framed in certain ways can change behaviour around the containers, bottles and packaging people throw away. It was designed to help people better understand and implement the ‘reduce’ premise of the waste hierarchy and, ultimately, reduce the pressure on the natural environment created by vast quantities of rubbish.

Following a series of focus groups to understand what might work best, households were contacted with letters from their council including five rules-of-thumb for reducing waste at home, from choosing no (or less) packaging alternatives and ditching the disposables, to looking out for refill options, getting organised and simply saying no to things that aren’t needed. Three different key messages were tested: an environmental message, linking individual consumption to wider environmental concern; the cost of waste disposal, linking this to other services that residents care about and framing waste prevention as a social norm, increasing the perceived capability to reduce waste.

Here's a closer look at what the pilot revealed:

  • General waste decreased by up to 27% in one area where the social norming message was tested.
  • General waste decreased by 13% in another area where the cost of waste disposal message was tested.
  • In two areas where total waste decreased, (general waste, recycling and food waste combined), it decreased by up to 6% in one area, and 5% on average.

A resident's perception survey carried out as part of Keep Britain Tidy‘s research found that as a result of seeing the intervention materials:

  • 82% avoided buying things they didn’t need or used up what they had already;
  • 73% used reusable alternatives to single-use items such as bottled water;
  • 72% used less packaging;
  • 68% tried planning meals for the week ahead or organising their fridge and food cupboards;
  • 60% used refill versions of products such as household cleaning items; and
  • 90% of those involved agreed that reducing waste was an important message.
Household waste - Recycling KBT

If you’re interested in reading the full report and learning more about the methodology of the behaviour change pilot you can find out more here.

At BRITA, as we look ahead to a new year, we believe it’s up to all of us to work together and do our bit to cut household waste. And we’re delighted to continue working closely with our amazing charity partners such as Keep Britain Tidy to understand more about the simple behaviour changes and interventions that can make a big impact.

Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE

Keep Britain Tidy logo

We’re really pleased to be able to publish our latest research with BRITA UK. By working closely with business, local authorities and consumers we can identify cost-effective, impactful, and sustainable solutions to Britain’s waste epidemic. What’s clear is that peer pressure or waste reduction becoming a social norm can lead us to shift our behaviour in positive ways.

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