Changing People’s behaviour toward Littering in the Egyptian Community

It is widely acknowledged that there is a significant change in people’s lifestyle, population, urbanization, economic expansion, and consumer purchasing behaviours. This change produces a rise in environmental pollution. Littering is recognised as one of the most visible forms of environmental pollution. There are different definitions of litter, according to Asian Development Bank, litter is a special type of municipal solid waste (MSW) meant to be domestic or commercial solid waste from any material, discarded improperly. It is something people get rid of it when they feel that it does not belong to them anymore. Littering is recognized as one of the problems that prevent sustainable development due to its multifaced consequences on the environment, economy, health, social life, and biodiversity. Several studies have been undertaken to investigate the problem, the factors that influence the behaviour, the implications of this behaviour's increase, and suggest solutions for the problem. The majority of investigations on littering behaviour have been conducted in developed countries. However, few studies have examined the behaviour of littering in developing countries. My thesis will be conducted in Egypt where litter is recognized as one of the most visible behavioural problems that government makes significant efforts to address it. The study aims to design interventions that raise Egyptian’s awareness of littering and its consequences and encourage them to adopt mindful and sustainable anti-littering behaviours. The thesis does so by exploring the factors that influence that behaviour in New Damietta City, Egypt to find the direct reasons behind that behaviour and acknowledge people’s awareness toward litter and its consequences on their life. An action research framework was adopted to structure the overall process and will eventually result in a design intervention that seeks to encourage a transition towards more mindful behaviour towards avoiding littering. This paper will discuss the methodology of the thesis and present its results to date. It includes an analysis of a quantitative survey which was used to collect data to help design the most comprehensive and effective behaviour change interventions that could raise awareness regarding litter as a problem and mitigate its presence in the streets and public places. The primary findings indicate that there is no correlation between the observed and the self-report littering behaviour and the availability and accessibility of litter bins. Lack of awareness of the consequences of littering is the leading cause of littering behaviour among respondents. Charging fines was selected as the most effective method for reducing/ preventing littering, followed by adding more appealing litter bins. The paper will also address how the analysis of these results will feed into the action research framework in order to deliver a designed intervention to encourage a transition towards anti-littering behaviour that will benefit Egypt's economy, society and environment.