Norway offered residents a chance to win a $1,000 prize for recycling; now 97% of all plastic bottles are returned

Norway offered residents a chance to win a $1,000 prize for recycling; now 97% of all plastic bottles are returned

Norway offered residents a chance to win a $1,000 prize for recycling; now 97% of all plastic bottles are returned In a new study, University of British Columbia researchers set out to answer the following question: Would you rather have 10 cents in your pocket or a 1-in-10,000 shot at $1,000? Their findings indicate that they may have figured out a way to get people to recycle more.  Knowing what motivates people to recycle can help improve return rates. Photo by Tanvi Sharma on Unsplash The researchers, whose work was just published in the journal “Waste Management,” tested the idea of offering people who return used bottles a small chance to win a big cash prize, instead of the standard 5- or 10-cent deposit earnings. The result? Participants recycled 47% more bottles for the chance at a $1,000 prize. “This small change in how we reward recycling made a big difference. People were more excited, more engaged, and they brought in more bottles,” Dr. Jiaying Zhao, associate professor in the …