Building local concern and connection
Take an interdisciplinary approach that links the issue at hand with everyday concerns in the community, like health, livelihoods, or cultural heritage. This makes it easier for people to connect the dots and see why it matters.
Use the right communication channels and engaging messages to get your point across. Translate complex ideas into the local language, and bring them to life through practical examples and storytelling.
Don’t just focus on the problem: offer a solution that people can get involved in.
We live in a world full of challenges, and many people are too overwhelmed by daily life to worry about another one. When someone is thinking about how to put food on the table or whether their child can attend school, it can be hard to also care about waste.
Incentivise people to get involved.
This doesn’t always mean handing out cash. It can be as simple as water during a clean-up, snacks at a community meeting, or offering rewards for collections (like a bottle return scheme). We’ve found creative ways to do this without large budgets. The long-term goal, of course, is for people to feel internally motivated, but incentives can help get things going.
Make it hands-on.
People are more likely to care when they understand the issue from personal experience. As part of our training programme, we took students to a local slaughterhouse to show how plastic waste was ending up inside animals and entering the human food chain. During one session, an animal was found with 30kg of plastic waste – including nappies – in its stomach. That moment made the issue real in a way that no presentation or slideshow ever could.
Encourage shared responsibility for public spaces.
During our baseline survey, we noticed that people were diligent about keeping their homes clean, but communal areas, like the seafront, village centre, or main roads, were often neglected. Why? Because nobody felt personally responsible. As Aristotle put it: “That which is common to the greatest number gets the least amount of care. Men pay most attention to what is their own: they care less for what is common.”
To move from neglect to protection, consider setting up community management systems for shared spaces.
When people feel responsible for their environment, they are more likely to care – and take action.
