Waste is one of the fundamental environmental problems that affect every society. Improper waste management and the use and dumping of litter can have serious environmental effects on the environment. A clean environment is one of the most desirable things that every society can boast of. However, keeping the environment clean can be one of the most challenging tasks to realize in the community. There are several causes of environmental pollution with one being the wastes from the used materials that people use. Throwing away litter all over the surrounding can lead to several problems including water contamination, poor smell and create a vulnerable ground for the breeding of certain insects. While many environmentalists have been leading in the campaigns to have clean surrounding, the task has been so challenging. Maintaining a clean environment requires a uniform effort and support by all members of the community. Therefore, persuading and influencing the members of the community to recycle most of their wastes and clean up the community can help create a waste-free environment. This can be done by conducting a mobilization campaign that aims at educating them on the importance of having a clean environment. Therefore, increasing awareness of environmental issues can be at the best interest of the whole community towards the realization of a clean environment.
Literature Review
Waste management and environmental preservation can be a very costly and laborious task if left for one particular individual to handle. The previous research has evaluated the importance of community mobilization towards keeping and maintaining a clean environment. The community waste behavior can be changed through influencing and persuading the members to understand the value of living in a clean environment. Through persuasion of the community members to see environmental preservation as responsibility for everyone, it becomes more realistic in managing and controlling the pollution. According to Dai et at., (2015), 70% of the wastes in the community results from the households by-products which when not effectively managed can lead to serious environmental problems. Studies have shown that reducing the household wastes through recycling, reuse, composition and green purchasing can help reduce the wastes by up to 80%. Conducting a community campaign to influence the members of society to participate in the cleaning of the environment can help keep the surrounding clean and safe for people to use. The way people communicate with each other about the environment can strongly influence how they define and relate to their natural surroundings. In line with this, communication that is directed towards changing the attitude and environmental behavior of the community. Persuasion and communication with the members of the community mediate the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors play a crucial role in changing the way people view their environment.
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Persuasive communication is the crucial step that can be used to convince the members of the society to actively take part in the preservation and cleaning of their environment. Persuasive communication can be defined as the process of attempting to influence others to agree to a particular call. It is a purposeful way that is designed to achieve a particular goal. Designing a persuasive message that can convince the target audience to act to the intended call requires that the message is made in a way that persuades rather than to coerce ( Long, Harré & Atkinson, 2014 ). Persuasive communication is done through the free will where the target audience has the option to either accept or reject the offer. A one on one communication and persuasion with the community members can yield a positive result and make them be part of the advocates who call for the maintenance of a clean environment.
One of the most effective ways to increase persuasion and influence is to apply the six principles of influence by Cialdini. According to Cialdini, the major principles of effective persuasion are reciprocity, commitment, liking, scarcity, authority and social proof. In the first principle which is reciprocity, Cialdini states that people are usually obliged to give back to others the form of behavior or the service they have received (Cialdini, 2007). By this, the community members can be influenced by offering them something as an expectation for a pay back so that they can get willing to participate in the environmental cleanup. The second principle which is commitment states that people have a deep commitment to something and they want to be seen as being consistent with their actions (Cialdini, 2007). To persuade people to take part in the environmental cleanup, creating a commitment is required so that people feel they have an obligation to fulfil that commitment.
The third principle that Cialdini notes is the social proof where people do what they observe others doing. If people see other members of the community taking part in the community cleanup, they will be easily get influenced to also take part in the activity because they need safety with the members. Getting a section of the people taking part in the environmental preservation is therefore the first step to influence others to take part in the exercise. Authority on the other hand is based on the idea that people usually obey the authority (Cialdini, 2007). Having the people who are in authority to persuade the members to take part in the conservation of the environment is crucial in making them respond positively. Liking on the other hand is based in the idea that people will be easily influenced by the person they like. When a leader who is liked by people leads in the call for the community to take part in the cleanup and recycling, people are more likely to respond positively than with someone they do not like. On the scarcity principle, Cialdini states that people are more likely to respond to a persuasion if they know it is the very last item. Based on this, the community can be persuaded to be involved in the environmental preservation and cleanup when they are convinced that it is the only option they have to preserve their environment.
Volunteers can usually meet and decide to keep the environment clean by doing a thorough cleaning, and working together to remove the litter and other wastes. The outcome of this collaboration is a clean environment that is free from litter and garbage. Getting the community involved in the collection of garbage and doing cleaning can be a great way to create awareness and make the environment issue a collective responsibility. A community clean up can bring back the sense of the community and maintain a healthy surrounding that can be beneficial to everyone. The visible results of the community cleaning can lead to an increased interest and more involvement by members of the community in the reduction of garbage and wastes as well as the preservation of the environment. Doing cleanup to the community does not have to involve everyone, but mobilization of a significant number of people towards the campaign can be a great deal ( Mickaël, 2014 ). While face to face persuasion can be very important in ensuring that a large number of people are involved, other avenues such as social media can also play a great role in reaching out to a large number of people. This communication can involve first convincing the members of the community on the importance of having a clean environment. For the persuasive communication to be effective, the target audience must understand how they will benefit from the program. Therefore, the demonstration of the importance of a clean environment is a crucial convincing ground to achieve a positive outcome.
A theoretical model of environmental behavior can be used to change the behavior and the attitude of the community members towards their surroundings. The model can serve as a framework used to identify and organize the organizational, psychological and social factors that can influence the waste minimization behavior ( Tabernero et al., 2015 ). The model entails the general beliefs of the people about the environment and what needs to be changed. People have specific beliefs and attitudes towards their environment that needs to be changed. Creating in people a sense of obligation to act and make them feel that they have the responsibility to preserve their environment can be a significant step towards achieving a successful persuasion. The persuasion messages for fostering waste reduction support can be most effective if they directly address the goals and motivations of the audience. While persuading members of the community to offer and sacrifice their time to participate in cleaning the environment involves making critical decisions, there must be a motivational factor that will convince them to move into action.
Previous studies related to recycling and communication have shown to be effective in encouraging and maintaining a recycling life in the community. Recycling is a useful way to prevent the disposal of used wastes to the environment. Certain reusable materials should be recycled and reused so that the ecosystem can be kept clean and safe. The commitment of the community to participate in the reuse and recycling of the wastes as well as cleanup of the community is encouraged and strengthened by the existence of social incentives. A block leader strategy can be used to increase the rate at which people involve themselves in the recycling rate. The block leader approach involves an individual introducing a recycling system in their surrounding and then encourage others through persuasive communication to create a recycling norm in the community ( Miafodzyeva & Brandt, 2013 ). This approach leads to the introduction of the recycling norm and culture through social interaction. It makes recycling become part of the culture of the community where people feel and understand the value of participating in the preservation of their environment. The block leader works by communicating with the rest of the community members through the desire for social approval which is arrived at through the process of modeling.
Limited studies have been done to provide a recommendation on the best and most effective way to do community recycling. However, there is a growing body of evidence which notes that using a simple and well organized persuasive communication can be useful in helping attract more people into the recycling culture. At the same time, the mobilization and campaigns for recycling should have a specific and clear message that inform people about the importance of recycling and how to go about the whole process ( Crociata, Agovino & Sacco, 2015 ). The extent to which people will get involved in the recycling depends on their perceived knowledge of how to go about the process and the benefits it has to the environment. The persuasion message must, therefore, provide clear information on how the community will benefit when they adopt a recycling culture. One way that can be used to promote the attitude of recycling is to have the campaigns that focuses on the rewards, feedback, education and goal setting. The thinking of an individual is such that active participation comes when there is an expectation of a particular reward. The reward, in this case, can be the benefits of recycling to the environment or the recognition for championing a clean surrounding.
Several studies have mentioned a variety of barriers that have existed stopping people from recycling. Unless these barriers are eliminated, the persuasive communication may not at the end of the day have any positive outcome. The first barrier is that people lack the knowledge of what materials can be recycled and which one cannot be ( Too & Bajracharya, 2015 ). Also, there is a lack of awareness on the recycling process, and as a result, people tend to participate in it. The effect of the persuasion, therefore, requires that the members of the community are educated on what materials can be recycled and the whole recycling process. The feedback on the outcome of the whole recycling efforts might also be lacking forcing people to stay away from the process. The motivation to recycle is based on the feedback received about the efforts made to develop a recycling norm. At the same time, people like to be appreciated and recognized for their efforts to preserve and protect the environment. Without this, the motivation to recycle and take part in cleaning the environment can be lacking. It is, therefore, necessary that the persuasion process also entails factors that aim at removing the barriers that hinder people from recycling. There is always a need to have the people motivated and goal-oriented in a way that promotes participation in the community clean up.
Experiential Component
The major reason why I selected this topic is that I have children whom I would love to see live in a clean environment and enjoy the nature of the surrounding. Children love to play around their surrounding, and the only way to keep them safe and free from any germs is to keep their environment clean and safe. There are many incidences where children have fallen ill because of the pollution of their surrounding due to the disposal of wastes. To prevent this, it is critical that every member of the community take the responsibility to preserve and keep the surrounding clean. It should be a collective responsibility of all the members of the community to take part in the environmental preservation and making the surrounding a safe place for our children to live and play. Living in a clean environment that is free from wastes disposal and litter can be one of the most appealing things. A beautiful surrounding is that which is clean and free from garbage and unpleasant smell. My love for a clean and beautiful surrounding as well as the need to see my children play and live in a clean and safe environment are what motivated me to choose this topic. I believe that it is the responsibility of every member of the community to take part in the preservation of the environment because if left to be a one-person action, the task may be so challenging.
While selecting this topic, I expected to learn the ways in which the community can work together to keep a clean environment. Working together as a community has always worked well in ensuring that there is the preservation of the environment. I also expected to learn the ways which can be used to persuade and mobilize the members of the community to take action and get involved in the cleaning of the environment as well as to create a culture of recycling in the community. Because some of the wastes that are disposed to cause pollution to the surrounding can be recycled or reused, we can protect our biodiversity by recycling these materials rather than dispose of them off to the environment. The even though environmentalists and other volunteers have on many occasions volunteered to take part in the garbage collection and community cleanup, the result has not been very effective because of lack of participation from the community members. Without involving the community in the whole process, environmentalists can be collecting garbage every day but realizing a clean environment could still remain a dream. Other than in the industrial areas, a larger percentage of the wastes disposed of coming from the households. Therefore, involving the real exact people who create the problem can be the starting point to finding a permanent solution.
My previous experience with this topic dates back to ten years ago when I saw the negative impacts of a dirty environment on the health of the people living around. Disposal of wastes can form a breeding ground for certain insects such as mosquitoes which can then have a serious health problem on the population around. Children are especially very vulnerable in a dirty environment and can develop severe health problems. In my experience, I saw an environmentalist partner with the area elected leader to mobilize the members of the community to take part in the cleaning of the surrounding. Through their persuasion and communication which dwell around the importance of a clean environment, the members of the society got into action and did a thorough cleanup. The mobilization campaigns were conducted in public rallies while at the same time spreading the message through social media so that a large number of people could be reached. It only took two days to clean up the area and remove all the litter that had turned the beautiful city into almost a dumping ground. The efforts worked well and kept the environment clean and beautiful.
Public education was then conducted to teach people about the ways they can use to keep their environment clean. One of the teachings was on the need to develop a recycling norm within the community. The lesson was based on informing the community on the materials that can be recycled and the recycling process. At the end of the day, this norm became part of the community which is practiced until today. Majority of the people continue to recycle most of their wastes while also doing green purchasing. There has been increasing pressure from the manufactures to use packing materials that are recyclable and those that are biodegradable. Polythene has been one of the major causes of pollution in the community because it cannot decompose. When burnt, it can also lead to air pollution by the emission of greenhouse gases which further leads to global warming. Educating members of the community to practice green purchase is, therefore, another way to ensure that there is a clean environment that is healthy and safe for life.
I have previously participated in the community environmental cleanup in California State. Having grown there as a resident, I was among the members of the community who were mobilized to take part in the cleaning of the environment and also taught on the importance of maintaining a clean surrounding. Through the mobilization campaign to keep the environment clean, more than 60% of the community members turned up with gloves in their hands to participate in the cleaning of their community. This action caused a lot of excitement amongst members of the community who could then appreciate the beauty of living in a clean environment. It brought unity for purpose as people for the first time came together and undertook the collective responsibility to keep the environment clean.
While engaging in the project to clean the environment, I felt excited to be part of the team that had volunteered to make the surrounding clean. I thought it was my responsibility along with others to make my surrounding clean. It was a fantastic feeling and nice experience as I interacted with other members and environmentalists who had volunteered to see that the community was clean. I did not see it as a sacrifice, but rather as my responsibility to keep the surrounding clean. This project made me learn that I am always determined to see people in the environment. It taught me the value of working together as a community and the importance of preserving the surrounding. Environmental preservation is a collective responsibility that requires every individual to play a role. If left to a few individuals, the process can be very challenging, and the positive outcome may not be visible. Working together as a team to promote awareness of the need to preserve the environment is the key to the future clean environment. If I were to take part in the same program, I would lead in the campaign to mobilize young people to take the responsibility of protecting the environment and the diversity.
Conclusion
Environmental pollution has been a major community challenge for many years, and it continues to pose more problems. The use and disposal of wastes and litter all over the space has led to a dirty environment that can cause health risks not only to children but also to adults. The previous efforts to have a few individuals keep control and preserve the environment has not been successful. Environmental protection is a collective responsibility that requires the participation of all community members. It requires the need to create awareness on the importance of protecting and keeping the environment clean. Through persuasive communication, the various environmentalists and other leaders can lead the mobilization campaign to convince members of the public take part in the cleanup and protection of their surroundings. Teaching on the importance of recycling and eliminating the barriers involved can play a key role in the conservation of a clean and safe environment.
References
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