Applying behavioural theory to the challenge of sustainable development: using hairdressers as diffusers of more sustainable hair-care practices

The challenges presented by sustainable development are broadly accepted, yet resource use increases unabated. It is increasingly acknowledged that while technical solutions may play a part, a key issue is behaviour change. In response to this there has been a plethora of studies into how behaviour change can be enabled, predominantly from psychological and sociological perspectives. This has resulted in a substantial body of knowledge into the factors that drive behaviour change and how they can be manipulated to achieve desired social goals. In this paper we describe a study that draws on this body of knowledge to design an intervention to drive behaviour change across the hairdressing sector, and by the process of diffusion, across the vast social networks of this occupational group to influence domestic hair-care practices. The intervention was successful: hairdressers indicated positive intentions to adopt more sustainable practices within their salons and pass them onto their customers. The customer survey (N=776) confirms this: customers surveyed after their hairdresser attended the Green-Salon-Makeover intervention were significantly more likely to report that environmental issues had been considered in their salon visit and that they themselves would consider such issues in their hair-care practices at home than customers who were surveyed before the intervention

The Car and the Commons

This paper discusses the centrality of the automobile to experiencing modern life. Access to a car is considered essential to access vital services and, as such, automobile usage plays a crucial role in commoning. However, this is said to draw lines of inclusion and exclusion premised on financial status, which particularly excludes those in rural areas. Such issues are especially acute at a time when electric cars are being promoted as a sustainable transport, which actually contains the potential to further marginalize the less affluent, rendering matters of access questions of class. The paper concludes by suggesting that more attention need be given to alternatives from private car ownership, focusing on communal usages