Littering has comprehensive environmental consequences, where cigarette butts are the most representative waste. Thus, influencing people to reduce littering of cigarette butts, can lead to major environmental ripple effects.
Based on knowledge about human cognition, decision making and behaviour, Mindshift conducted a series of experiments done on cigarette butt littering in a crowded urban area. Different measures were introduced to capture the attention of the smokers and to nudge them into the right behaviour.
Mindshift developed a unique methodology for securing validity and reliability in collecting and analyzing data. The results displayed an 208 % increase in use of the bin. This implies an estimated reduction of 1.23 million cigarette butts a year*, if the measures had been implemented throughout the city.
The project demonstrates the importance of attention if you want to change behaviour in a busy environment, as well as the effectiveness of nudging techniques ‑ influencing people through targeted behavioural design.
*Estimation based on numbers from Sneipfritt indicating that 2.4 million cigarette butts are thrown on the ground every year in Oslo