Education Intervention (5)- Summary
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: WHAT CAN EDUCATION ACCOMPLISH? We have discussed educational interventions aimed at promoting fairly specific pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs among individuals and overcoming inter nal barriers, such as lack of knowledge or commit ment, that keep them from acting on those attitudes. Education can make a difference in people's behavior, but there are serious limits to what it can accomplish. The chapter supports the following general conclu sions: In the short term, educational approach • work only when the main barriers to action ar interna o the individual. As we have seen, education live mainly with relatively simple, low-cost behaviors, such as depositing cans in curbside recycling bins or altering home thermostat settings. Such actions help, but they typically have smaller effects on the environ mental problems they are meant to lessen than more permanent actions such as purchasing an energy-effi cient vehicle or appliance (see Chapt...