Melissa McCullough -facilitator
Bill Walker
Chris A
Veronica Butcher
Parris Lucas
Andrew Hutson
Shana
Tom F
Gary
Topics:
Collaboration between business and consumers - with state and local government intertwined
Look at information that is meaningful, actionable, credible
Incentivize action and disincentivizeinaction
Make ways that are easy to act - like Dan's speech (turn on/off, smily faces)
Win win solutions
How get consumers to change behavior

Poki-y-oki - no brainers; obvious things - constructing things in society that make them easy
Example: room key cards in hotels turn on lights and heating/cooling
Regulate changes? Local and state level or federal? What is faster and quicker? What is more effective?
"Rational ignorance" - rational not to case about environment
Costs are associated, which deters people
Trust is also issue - ex. recycling acting going to landfill...
What if make Energy Star standard for all?
Retort: What about those who cannot afford? Command and control policies dont work like they should
Disincentives
Behavior changes
We often have to opt in to make the right choice, but what if we look the other way that the default position should be to do the right thing. Change things to make the negative action the action you would need to go out of your way to do.
Point: Regulations can bring quick fixes
Retort: Still takes a while and can be difficult to change
More effective to start on state and local levels
Do not push values on others though - Who is change agent?
Influence behavior more subtly - ex. position of selling products in store
***How get behavior to change without people really caring?***
Social norms - people will rarely admit they are anti-environmentalist - ***make it more "people like you" are doing things (keeping up with Jones)
Dan's point - thinking about linking action (to air and water) - making connections in communities
Get people as if they care
Diffusion of information can be difficult
How incentivize those directly linked to the action?
Education is big component and has been missing in many ways - partnerships - understand and digest and apply to themselves
Go up levels though - have components already "built in"!!!! - make it easy!
Where do you draw the lines? But just because you draw a line doesn't mean you get there.
What we need to focus on is innovation and how to innovate solutions that make actions easy and in actions painful. What innovations do we need?
Maybe starting with local regulations since easier but have innovations come from bottom up.
How can feds help overcome barriers?
Paying for plastic bags is an example of enough pain to force bringing own bags. Or stores are giving discount for bringing own.
We need collaboration to come up with the innovation. Need people to do research with groups who want to initiate a change. Need to bring in a broader issue.
Broader Thought: Individuals/Communities and process to get there: how do you create a new social norm? Linking to what people care about. Then unconscious where the action is embedded in a technology or existing process. Then standards and practices until things become a norm then it becomes how professional organizations do business.
Problem with regulations and policy is the push back. At some level you have to bring it in.
The visualization piece seems to be the most innovate as far as making it easy to understand information and correct action.
Should you be allowed to have it if there is no way to recycle it? Put a higher price on plastics that can't be reused.
Need to take the decision and action out of the hands of the consumer and just make it part of life and easy.
Need to find the right actors is it business or consumers making the changes and actions?
How do we affect the supply chain so that we move away from more and more packaging and less products?
Brands want to be different so the packaging is their billboard...how do we rethink product delivery?
How can we think in terms of the American market and changes that are not resisted by copmanies?
Is there a way to tie purchase back to how much coal or electricity was used to produce product.
How do we get companies to see the information of the usage and the impact they are having?
In terms in an innovation if they published the names of the top energy users or polluters in the media. Need a distribution list that will motivate action on an individual or company level.
Informatin innovation are important but the issue of how do you get information b/c are people self reporting it and being honest or is there a tool that measures and reports. Very hard to get supply chain information and verify accuarcy.
Examp: Deadbeat Dad information comes from gov't then used by groups.
Are there any fortune 500 companies not doing sustianablity reports? Prob is no standardized practices.
Summary:
If we could come up with sustaninbility standards and practices. Would that also work with consumers? How do we create certification standards for homes so there is a way to impact the resale of homes?

Summary:
1) Getting actionable, stad, credible info eg EMS
2) Making action automatic

-process
-technology
-both consumer & business

3) How to make action happen

-carrot - $ savings
-stick - shame
-incentive-align
-collaboration
- rewards w/ interest - target
- find win/wins