Salient

Psychology and the environment: Who knew they had anything in common?

By Laura McQuillan | 15 Oct, 2007

PSYC221 students spent the last semester assisting the environment for a Psychology paper on environmental behaviour.

At a lecture attended by Salient last week, the results of the students’ study, including attitudes and behaviour and group effects on household energy, transport energy consumption and waste, were announced, with the results showing that more cohesive groups were better at altering their environmental behaviour than those whose groups weren’t as united.

The class had earlier split into groups to work on sustainability and environmentally-conscious projects, with a behavioural focus.

Lecturer James Liu told the class “the sustainability issue is the issue of our times”, and invited speakers from the Sustainability Trust, Greenpeace and Gecko to speak.

One group held a Biodegradable Bash, complete with organic food and recyclable and biodegradable food and drink containers. Alys Grace, Chris Streeter, Emily Cheater, Sophie Moskowitz, Sarah Smith and Kasia McDonald organised the event, and Cheater says their aim was “to show you can have more fun being environmentally-friendly.”

The group said while the party was more expensive, it was also more enjoyable due to the effort that went into homemade food. They have recommended that students purchase kegs rather than cans, shop at veggie markets and use fewer plastic bags.