Work

Reducing littering in the UK: a digital behaviour change intervention to engage users in protecting the environment

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Littering involves throwing away waste in places not designated for it, harming the environment. This study introduces a strategy to encourage more use of Littergram, an app designed to fight littering. Littergram allows users to photograph litter and share these images publicly, alerting local councils to clean up the waste. The study aimed to increase user engagement with Littergram by implementing an intervention designed using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), a comprehensive framework for developing behaviour change interventions. We developed and applied a digital campaign through emails, following BCW guidelines. The process began with identifying the behaviour we wanted to change. We conducted a survey to understand what influences this behaviour and selected techniques for changing behaviour based on these insights. The campaign involved sending targeted emails to Littergram users. There was an increase in the use of Littergram during the campaign, and growth returned to initial levels after the campaign ended. This outcome shows that the approach can effectively increase engagement temporarily. Future research should focus on challenges in maintaining long-term behaviour change.

Source: Behavioural Public Policy

DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2025.4

Authors: Julia Kolodko, Karan Arora, Velina Hristova, Daniel Read, Ivo Vlaev

Institutions: University of Warwick, National University of Singapore, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Environmental Education and Sustainability

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550