Changing the world one shampoo bar at a time

Although I have many passions in life, this one in particular has currently peaked my interest. I am currently taking a class discussing sustainability in our environment. We are looking at individual behavior changes we could make to help make our world last a little longer. Had someone asked me last week if I recycled in our house, the answer was always "no". Not for any reason other than a lack of will to place a separate can in my kitchen for recyclable materials. So when it came to the topic of sustainability, you could say it was the last thing on my radar. (Don't worry, I have now made the investment in a recycle bin.)

That was until this week. I have spent the last five days reading literature, attending field expert interviews, listening to podcasts, and having team discussions with my classmates. The topic of sustainability has been so engrained in my brain at this point, I can't help but listen. (I'll drop those articles and podcasts at the end for anyone who would like to spend hours on end inspiring yourself to get a recycle bin.)

Okay, back to how this led me to shampoo bars. Well today I sat in a meeting with team members discussing how we could make changes on an individual level that could possibly lead to something on a larger scale. One of them mentioned how her shampoo bar in her tin container has just become her way of life now. When others notice and comment, she just replies, "it's the same as your shampoo and conditioner, with easier travel and less waste creation."

This was a topic that caught my attention. What in the world was "bar shampoo"? How did it work? Why would someone switch their shampoo? We can't possibly create that much waste with shampoo bottles. Well did you know the average person uses 10 shampoo and conditioner bottles a year? With over 7 billion people, just let that sink in.

So I put out a Facebook post. I asked my friends, why don't you currently use bar shampoo? I was truly curious to see the results! Some said they did like the lack of convenience, shipping contributed just as much waste to the environment, some made their own shampoo, some tried and didn't like the texture it left on their hair, but most of all people said they had not tried it because they had never heard of it!

Now I'm going to lead into some future behavior analyst perspective on the topic. If this isn't you, you may just stop here as it's about to get pretty technical and possibly controversial, who knows?

I let myself soak in all the information I crammed into my head in the past week. At the end of the week, this was my take away. We need to do more to market eco-friendly materials. The world is clearly reinforced by convenience and knowledge. We can't buy something to support the environment if we know nothing about it and nobody is out there spreading the word.

So this next idea was taken from an article we read Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge by Paul Chance and William L. Heward. Have you ever heard of Carrotmobbing? Don't feel bad, neither had I until approximately 2 days ago. To summarize Carrotmobbing, this is a concept put together by a non-profit organization in California. This organization uses buycotts (consumers buying a lot of goods from one company in a short amount of time) to reward businesses making socially responsible changes to their company.

So let's give an example in the context of shampoo bars. As an organization we would like to promote limiting plastic waste by using shampoo and conditioner with reusable packaging. So we call a bunch of businesses and ask for a percentage of profits they would be willing to spend on finding ways to reduce waste creation in their store. Let's say Marty's Market comes back with 9% of profits is what he is willing to spend, but Sally's Superstore says they will spend 15% of profits to reduce waste in their store.

We then put together a campaign for our Carrotmob to go to Sally's Superstore on Saturday, May 30th and buy anything. These are items individuals were already planning to buy. We are now just determining that individuals will buy these things from one specific place at one specific time. So Sally doubles her profits for a typical day! Sally then takes 15% to purchase biodegradable shopping bags, therefore, creating less waste in the world. This turns into a win-win situation for all involved!

I wanted to end on one more behavior analytic strategy I think could help the cause. Individuals have stated that they do not used bar shampoo and conditioner because they did not know about it. So how can we solve this problem? Individuals are reinforced by monetary reward systems most often. What if a company currently selling these items started a campaign. Anyone who shares a post about bar shampoo and conditioner will get a voucher for buy one get one on their next purchase. This will not only spread the word about this eco-friendly item, it will also direct more business to this company.

Just a few small strategies that could help change the world, one shampoo bar at a time.

Articles that led to my inspiration:

• Chance, P. & Heward, W.L. (2010). Climate change: Meeting the challenge (Links to an external site.). The Behavior Analyst, 33(2), 197-206.

• Grant, L.K. (2010). Sustainability: From excess to aesthetics (Links to an external site.). Behavior and Social Issues, 19, 7-47.

• Lehman, P.K. & Geller, E.S. (2004). Behavior analysis and environmental protection: Accomplishments and potential for more (Links to an external site.). Behavior and Social Issues, 13, 13-32.

• Seniuk, H.A., Cihon, T.M., Benson, M., & Luke, M.M. (2019). Making a footprint in environmental sustainability: A behavioral systems approach to engaging the behavioral community (Links to an external site.). Perspectives on Behavior Science, 42, 911-926.