The Body of the essay: The assignment should be broken down into four sections. a. Introduction Define the problem: Introduce the ecological problem you intend to address by changing your behaviour. Why is the problem important? Identify your behaviours that contribute to the problem: What do you currently do that contributes to the problem? This may be a variety of different behaviours, but you should identify one that dominates the impact on the problem. Hint: the ecological footprint app introduced during the first week of the course is a good tool for identifying behaviours that have large negative impacts. Observe baseline behaviour: After you have specified a behaviour, count and graph it over a 2-week period before you attempt to change your behaviour. This gives a baseline line measure of your current behaviour. b. Specify your behaviour change goal Set a specific behaviour goal: Define a specific goal in behavioural terms. This should include specific actions (e.g. take cloth bags when grocery shopping) that are realistic and achievable. Explain why setting specific behavioural goals are important for behaviour change (see text chapter 8). Make a public commitment to change. Tell someone about the project and your sustainable behaviour goal. Explain why public commitments are important for behaviour change (see text chapter 5) Design a plan to alter the contingencies: Figure out ways you can change the antecedents (things that happen before) and consequences (things that happen after) of your undesired and desired behaviours. For example, if you plan to use a reusable cup for your morning takeaway coffee, you could keep one on your desk or in your backpack (this is an antecedent it happens before the desired behaviour). Or, if you forget your cup you could put some coins in the tips jar (this is a consequence it happens after the undesired behaviour). Explain the basic concept of behaviour modification and define the antecedent and/or consequence strategies you use (see text chapter 5). Create a contract. This makes your plans concrete. The contract should specify the goal behaviours and contingencies. For example, I will use my keep cup for my takeaway coffee. I will keep it in my backpack, and if I forget to use it I will put 50 cents in the cafs tip jar. c. Implement and evaluate your behaviour change plan Implement your behaviour change plan and track your progress. Record and graph your behaviour over a 2-week period. This way you can judge the extent to which the altered antecedent and consequent strategies are working to support your sustainable behaviour. Critically evaluate and identify potential limitations of your self-change plan. Adjust the plan as needed. If you experience less success than you anticipate, you may need to revisit and adjust your contingency plan. d. Generalise what you what you learned to new behaviours If everything goes to plan, your new sustainable behaviour should become habitual or at least more frequent. Suggest ways in which you can include additional behaviours in the same domain. For example, also bring reusable container and cutlery for takeaway food.Show more
