How crazy would it be if our addiction to gambling was what saved the planet? A new study at the University of British Columbia found a simple trick might encourage people to recycle more.
A bunch of states pay you to turn in bottles and cans. Anywhere from 2 cents to 15 cents depending on the type of container.
But even 15 cents isn’t much. So the study looked at what would happen if places skipped the normal payouts and used a LOTTERY system. Instead of 10 cents, each bottle gave people a 1-in-10,000 chance of winning $1,000. So, the same amount of money per bottle, but only one person gets it.
And the crazy part is it worked REALLY well. People in the study recycled 47% more bottles when there was a big jackpot on the line.
The lead author of the study explained it like this: “The thrill of possibly winning a big prize is more motivating than a small guaranteed reward. It’s the same reason people buy lottery tickets. That tiny chance of a big win is exciting.”
If you’re skeptical it would actually work in the real world, it turns out it already IS working. Norway has a lottery-based recycling system where you can win prizes worth between $1 and $100,000.
They actually blend both systems. When you turn in a bottle, you have a choice of getting a few cents for it, or a chance at the big money.
It’s become so popular that Norway’s recycling rate is close to 100%.
(Phys.org)
