Video on Incentives to Preserve the Environment

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What are the Incentives in other countries to preserve the environment?

There are many other countries that the U.S. can learn from in order to preserve the environment. Australia for example recycles 60% of its waste. Many other countries have incentives that the United States of America could implement. America should try to implement the incentives that are most effective. So what are these?





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According to the article "The Global Face of Recycling," India has a whole market for recycling in which "many people make a living    by creating their own recycling factories. It is estimated that the self-made recycling industry employs roughly 200,000 people. It’s not merely taking care of waste, but a way of life and a source of income." The U.S., which is always big on new business opportunities should definiteyl look at improving recycling companies and their incentives. In China, an incentive that the government has implemented is one in which, "The citizens who diligently collect recyclables off the street are numbered around 2.5 million people. These scrap collectors earn the equivalent of $150 a month which is roughly half of what a cab driver earns in that country in the same time frame." Since the U.S. really has nothing like this at all besides some possible tax breaks, this is definitely a big incentive that America could use to help encourage its citizens to improve the environment.

What are the Incentives Already Offered for Preserving the Environment?

     The natural incentives should be enough of a reason to help recycle and save energy. By being wasteful and harmful to the environment we basically are ruining it for future generations and ourselves. However, as I found in my last post, most people don't see the effects in their daily lives, so therefore they don't see it as a big problem in their lives. The incentives  that are in place set by the government and recycling companies do not seem to be working. Incentives at all levels from government to individual small recycling plants are available to everyone.

Source: http://www.greenerpackage.com

      There are a variety of incentives for preserving the environment that people can take advantage of from large government programs to small recycling companies.  In a USA Today article from 2010 called "Getting paid to save energy, recycle? Incentives expand," author Wendy Koch writes," A growing number of private and public programs are offering cash, gift cards and other rewards such as cupcakes and massages for eco-friendly behavior." The article goes on to list some possible incentives that are available. CVS for example gives customers $1 to use in the store when they skip using a plastic bag four times. The Company Earth Aid has registered people in all fifty states who have the ability to earn points that can be used in certain stores when these people save on their utility bills. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has a list of Energy incentive programs both public and private in every state. In Illinois, one possible incentive for businesses and companies is the New Construction program, which gives grants to buildings that go beyond code requirements in energy efficiency. 
     People need to understand the possible consequences of not helping to preserve the environment. Although many people may not be directly affected by immediate consequences like pollution, they still should understand what could happen to the next generation. There are so many incentives to preserve the environment both substantial and non-substantial, but somehow most people just do not seem to care.


UP NEXT:  What new incentives could or should be implemented in the U.S.? Can the United States use incentives that other countries around the world have put into place?

Why don't people want to preserve the environment?

      How often do you not take the extra few steps towards the recycling bin? The answer for most people is fairly often. Are most people just lazy? Do they not care at all? Are they not able to? You probably have some kind of seemingly valid excuse, but in reality it's not valid at all. People can recycle but often don't because they either don't see it as important or are just lazy.

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     In the article from Huffington Post, "The Psychology Behind Why People Don’t Recycle," Erin Schumaker, the Senior Healthy Living Editor who has a Masters from the school of Journalism at Northwestern University, delves into the reasoning behind people not recycling. She found that the excuse people mostly use is that it is not accessible to them. It is stated that about 25% of people in the U.S. don't have curbside recycling, but that just means that people must take it to a local recycling drop off center. These people obviously don't care enough to drop it off at the recycling center or don't know that they have a local recycling center and hadn't cared to look up to that point.

     About 26% of people in this article's poll said that it either takes up too much time, they always forget to recycle, or that they are uneducated about recycling. All of these excuses boil down to one factor: people are lazy. People who say it takes too much time obviously believe it is not worth it and don't understand the importance of recycling. People who say they always forget needs to learn the importance of recycling so that they take more of an effort to remember to recycle. People who say they are uneducated about recycling would take an effort to learn if they really cared. The tricky part is getting these people to really care.

Up next: I will research the incentives that have been implemented to preserve the environment in the past and why they haven't worked. 

Preserving the Environment in Daily Life

Neil Fortman

Preserving the Environment in Daily Life

Source of  pic : http://www.experiencescottsdale.com/

Source of article:http://search.proquest.com/docview/229121860/707A5EDC14394CA6PQ/3?accountid=6263

Too many people say they want to preserve their environment, yet barely recycle or don’t turn off a light when they leave a room. We could all be helping to preserve the environment for our and other's future. Our efforts to preserve the environment pale in comparison to the Hydrogen House, which should serve as an example of how help preserve the environment.

The article found in the database Proquest Research Library called “The Hydrogen House: Fueling a Dream” from The Environmental Magazine, speaks about the amazing tactics the Hydrogen House uses to help preserve the environment. The author,Janice Arenofsky, quotes the  executive director of the Hydrogen Energy Center saying that, “ "Beaulieus House uses less energy, which means less need to collect it. Nothing is wasted. Each function is taken care of either by design or natural law."” We can all individually start taking steps to creating something like the Hydrogen House. More specifically the Hydron House helps preserve the environment by “ burning hydrogen for fuel cleans the air of pollen and gases better than forced air systems, says Beaulieus” and using “Only low-toxic, solvent-free adhesives and sealants, water-based floor finishes and stained concrete.” As individuals, we don't need to got as far as building a house that is totally efficient. To lower our individual impact on the environment, however, we can take some aspects of the Hydrogen House and use them in our our lives. But even by taking a few more steps to the recycling bin or picking up litter that you see on the ground, we can help in the effort.

FUTURE RESEARCH: Looking forward, I will definitely want to research whether people voluntarily change their daily lives to help preserve the environment or not.

Incentives to Preserve the Environment

Neil Fortman

BLOG POST #1

• RESEARCH TOPIC/TITLE: Preserving the environment in our daily lives

• KEY ECONOMIC PRINCIPLE I’M ADDRESSING:  People (usually) respond to incentives in predictable ways.

• OVERALL RESEARCH QUESTION THAT CONNECTS MY TOPIC TO THE ECONOMIC PRINCIPLE: What incentives can society & government create to encourage people to preserve the environment? 

• 3-4 SUB QUESTIONS/TOPICS THAT HELP ADDRESS THE OVERALL RESEARCH QUESTION and EMBEDDED LINKS TO RELIABLE SOURCES THAT HELP ANSWER THE QUESTION
• How can we help preserve the environment in our daily lives?
• http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-use/
• http://hydrogenhouseproject.org/the-hydrogen-house.html
•  Will people voluntarily change their daily lives to help preserve the environment?
• http://business.time.com/2010/02/15/why-people-arent-sold-on-energy-efficiency-in-their-homes/
• http://cligs.vt.edu/recycle/
• What are possible incentives to convince people to help preserve the environment?
• http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22410962/ns/us_news-environment/t/cities-offer-incentives-save-energy/
• http://energy.gov/eere/femp/energy-incentive-programs-illinois