IntegratED
Symposium on
Environmental Attitudes
Sustainability
Sarah Vitulano, Louise Delaigue, Marie-Lisa Jolin Bill
Chatzopulos, Marc-Antoine Tutt-Guerette

Live Experiment
1. True or False:
- We are approaching the limit of the number of people the Earth can
support.
- Humans have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their
needs.
- When humans interfere with nature it often produces disastrous
consequences.
- Human ingenuity will insure that we do not make the Earth unlivable.
2. Choose what you like best to write: pen or pencil?
How to approach sustainability issues

-
Thomas Heberlein: Navigating Environmental Attitudes
Attitudes and behaviors are key influences
Cognitive fix vs. Structural fix
What are attitudes and behaviors?

Attitudes and behaviors
- Attitudes cannot be seen. Individual’s disposition towards
something.
- Behaviors can be seen. Their manner of conducting
themselves towards something.
- Attitudes do not necessarily reflect behaviour.
- Can be crudely contrasted as “thinking vs. doing”

Goal
- Understanding human psychology towards the environment
- To raise awareness of aforementioned techniques
- To apply these techniques at Concordia and expose a
possible idea to increase our sustainability

Cognitive Fix
- Educating the public in hope that attitudes will change and
influence behavior

Pro-Environmental Attitudes
Education is important but it’s not enough to influence
pro-environmental attitudes to pro-environmental
behaviors. Ex: We know recycling is important & is a
great tool to being sustainably proactive
(pro-environmental attitudes)
however this information has not made everyone recycle
or recycle all items that are recyclable (pro-environmental behavior).

Cognitive Fix example
- Exxon Mine
- Smoking cigarettes
- Studying
A
n
t
i
E
x

What is the Structural Fix?
- Changes the social environment that influences what
people do
- Focuses on context or setting to change human
behavior

Advantages
- Does not focus on attitude change as the driver of
behavioral change
- Can produce results by changing behavior
- Effective structural fixes designed with attitudes take
advantage of social contexts

Disadvantages
- Does not influence attitudes
- Many Structural Fixes require gaining support and changing
behaviors of people in charge which can be difficult initially

Example from Heberlein
- Graduate student replaced plastic foam cups with
biodegradable paper cups and a rack for China cups at an
employee coffee room
 changed behavior of people without asking them to do it
 after student graduated, the plastic foam cups returned &
attitudes never changed

Example
- Reducing plastic waste and electricity usage on campus by
removing vending machines (new contract to be awarded
on April 15th)

Structural fixes work!

Fixes and Sustainability?

Concordia University’s sustainable future
- Concordia Travel Mug Renting Service
- Library Policy
- No need to use disposable
cups anymore!

Results: greener footprint!

Conclusion
- Results
- Structural Fixes are the most efficient strategies in the
short term
- Understanding human psychology and the interdisciplinary
factor is important

References
- Heberlein, T. (2012). Navigating environmental attitudes. New
York: Oxford University Press.
- Anderson, M. (2012). New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale.
Berkshire.
- Picture: River Biya, Russia – Dmitri Melnikov