President, Social Marketing Services, Inc.
Affiliate Instructor, University of Washington
Strategic Advisor, C+C
Where Sighted: Most Days of the Week
Social Issue: Litter On Sidewalks
This will be one of my more unusual BLOGs.
About 5 years ago I made a promise to a couple of environmentally concerned community members that on each of my daily walks with my dog downtown I would pick up 2 pieces of litter.
Most items I pick up are plastic bags, food wrappers, cans, plastic bottles and, if I can’t find 2, something less significant like a Kleenex.
As I walked this week it occurred to me that I was fulfilling this “promise” at least 80% of the time, for more than 5 years..
I do not think I would have fulfilled, for 5 years, a promise to pick up all the litter I saw on my walk, so probably wouldn’t have even taken it on.
I asked myself why is this working? What principle for behavior change does this represent?
I’m convinced it is because the promise was clear and doable, given a commitment to just 2 items.
And I made the promise public.
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