Evaluation of Consumers’ “Waste Reduction” Behavior in the Framework of Design for Sustainable Behavior

Abstract

The role of designers in developing a sustainable society is not limited to creating sustainable products but also includes envisioning products, processes, and services that promote sustainability and will be accepted by the wider society. Design for sustainable behavior, the literature that has grown in this context, aims to encourage the adoption of desirable sustainable behaviors and discourage undesirable, unsustainable behaviors. In this context, this paper aims to propose a guide for designers to use the data from this study to incorporate into their design process by assessing the behaviors and motivations of users who exhibit waste reduction behavior in designing for sustainable behavior. For this purpose, users’ waste reduction behaviors were examined within the framework of the zero-waste approach using the 5Rs (reject, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot) proposed by Johnson.
The findings were categorized according to the drivers of changing consumer behavior described in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) study to create a data set that designers can use. The study used qualitative analysis to gain insight into user behaviors and motivations related to waste reduction. The participants in the study were selected using a purposive sampling method among consumers who are aware of waste reduction. A total of 50 participants, randomly selected among the followers of ‘Zero Waste’ themed pages on social media, took part in the research voluntarily.