respectful, responsible

I recently came across deliberate litter scattered along a half-mile stretch of a state park forest (see images below). There were cans and bags of discarded trash nearby. Chances that this was accidental seemed unlikely.

This reminded me of a recent video I saw of a political leader whose high school speech resurfaced. Stephen Miller said, "Am I the only one who is sick and tired of being told to pick up my trash when we have plenty of janitors who are paid to do it for us?"

Some sympathizers argue that Miller was only joking. Others emphasize that you can’t judge someone for something they said when they were adolescents.

I began to wonder, “Why do people litter on purpose and can their behavior change?” Maybe.

A common theory in persuasive tactics states that if you can change the attitude, you can change the behavior. “Our positive and negative attitudes can have a powerful influence on our behavior in various situations” [source]. *Attitudes are influenced by experience, social roles and norms, conditioning, and observation.

Conversely, there are also studies that changing behavior itself can lead to a change in attitude. “Beliefs are shaped not only by ideas but by action, context, and experience. By designing environments that make better behaviors easier to try and harder to avoid…” [source].

Perhaps changing the environment, can change the experience, and thus can change the behavior (i.e. put more trash receptacles in place to make it easier to discard of waste). NOTE: I wrote about this in a previous post here.

*But in countries like Japan, these receptacles don’t exist. Based on cultural norms, education, and expectations, citizens carry their trash with them and dispose of it properly - example of attitude shaping behavior?

Either way, where people intentionally litter, I want to believe that they can also choose not to, that they can change. Has Stephen Miller become a respectful and responsible adult since his adolescence?

Be respectful and responsible. Please, don’t litter.

(I collected the cans. They had been strewn in close proximity, not piled as seen in the photo.)

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