Within the past couple weeks I have been reading Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, and today my class dove into and explored the topics that the authors discussed in the book. From my classes exploration I have began to see the ways in which everyone's decisions are swayed in certain directions due to their surroundings.
Now this isn't to say that we don't actually have real control over our decisions. If you want to recycle that plastic water bottle, because you're saving the Earth one bottle at a time, go on ahead. I just want to make a point as to how the ways you carry out those decisions may in fact be due to a nudge.
Around the campus of Montana State University there are 4 trash receptacles lined up for students to use along with regular garbage cans. The 4 receptacles each have a specialized lid made only to fit a certain type of trash: paper, plastic, cans, and landfill. It is also not stated anywhere that students are required to use these to separate their trash.
So from the above information I want to explain the reason I think that students decide to use the 4 specialized receptacles over the regular garbage cans. I know that we all first think the simple, "I'm ecofriendly," response is the explanation, but I would like to argue that it may go deeper than that.
I think that the true reason is: People follow people, and generally don't want to negatively stand out in a crowd.
For example, say I was eating a sandwich, that I packed in a plastic bag, and a Redbull, while I was on the way to school. Then when I got to school I was running late and needed to throw my plastic bag and Redbull can away fast. Even though it would take more time and I am running late, I would feel obligated to throw the Redbull in the can receptacle and the plastic bag in the plastic one. The reason I would feel obligated to do so resides in the fact that I wouldn't want to negatively stand out to the students around me by tossing them both in the landfill trashcan.
This mindset is based on the concept of herd mentality, that Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein discussed in Nudge, depicts that people are easily influenced by those around them. This in turn reveals that the reasons students may be taking extra time to sort out their trash most likely goes deeper than their, "I'm eco-friendly," explanation. 
I've always been curious how those cans get emptied. Recently I was in the Seattle airport and I watched a janitor empty a series of separated trash/recycle cans. He quickly tied up the trash and threw into the cart. He then took the paper, aluminum, and plastic cans and dumped them into ONE bag. I wonder if this is normal and if there really is a point to separating the recycling? Thanks for your thoughts!
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