Eco-initiatives and individual motivation

A new UGA study in the American Review of Public Administration, from faculty in the School of Public and International Affairs, presents findings on individual behaviors by public employees that is all well and good:

Authored by Justin M. Stritch, a former doctoral student in public administration and policy, and Christensen, who also is the school's Ph.D. director in the department of public administration and policy, the research found that public servants were likely to engage in eco initiatives.

"Eco initiatives are discretionary, pro-environmental behaviors that an employee can participate in during the day," said Stritch, who is now an assistant professor at Arizona State University. "Eco initiatives involve things like recycling or energy conservation. Reusing water bottles and turning off your computer screen are examples."

Eco initiatives include sustainable micro-level behaviors, small tasks that are done voluntarily by the employee. When an employee chooses to do things like save paper or turn off lights at work, they are participating in eco initiatives. Eco initiatives are done because employees choose to do them, not because they're enforced.

But how does this behavior, if at all, translate into policy initiatives? Individual eco-mindedness is terrific but also no substitute for broader policy measures to incentivize changes in habits and behaviors on a societal level. Even if I were to walk to campus everyday, it would not begin to offset the fuel consumption and emissions from the thousands of vehicles that pass me on the street. I might feel better personally, in any number of ways, but the overall issues of traffic congestion, pollution and carbon emissions would remain. Translating this individual eco-initiative into public policy is the real question. Maybe we can start by rewarding positive individual behaviors; but we also have to find some ways to leverage them into new policy initiatives.