Whenever I’m in the proximity of a discussion around sustainability and look into other people’s eyes, I tend to see one of two things.

Either there’s a fire so hot you instinctively step back a foot — the sustainability enthusiast who’s just realised they’ve found a kindred spirit — or there’s that glazed, slightly off-centre gaze accompanied by an imaginary T-shirt saying:

“Oh no, not this again.”

I can’t say for certain, but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s primarily to do with the old favourite:

Don’t tell me what to do.

I wouldn’t suggest it’s because some people don’t care. I think, quite simply, we don’t enjoy being told what a ‘good person’ should look like.

It smacks of ‘school prefect’.

You should do this. You shouldn’t do that. We’ve decided what’s responsible, and we’d now like you to behave accordingly.

Even when I completely agree with what’s being suggested, there’s a small part of me thinking:

Don’t tell me what to do.

Which is slightly ridiculous because I’m actually pretty disciplined and responsible, while also being ridiculously stubborn when somebody tells me what to do.

This is referred to as psychological reactance — our tendency to push back when we feel our freedom to choose is being restricted.

The instruction itself can even make the thing we’re being told not to do more appealing.

Which makes one of our parents’ favourites from childhood quite ironic.

Don’t touch the hot tap.

You know it’s hot…

You’ve been specifically told it’s hot.

You understand perfectly well what the likely consequences are.

And yet…

You really want to touch the hot tap.

I suspect sustainability occasionally has a hot-tap problem.

PERHAPS WE’RE TRYING TOO HARD TO PERSUADE

Repair is a good example.

We can tell somebody they should repair something because replacing it creates unnecessary waste.

Perfectly sensible.

Or we can make repair easier, give them the means to participate in it and create enough satisfaction around keeping something that they actually want to repair it.

The sustainable behaviour is the same, but in one version they’re complying with something they’ve been told is responsible and in the other they’ve chosen it.

If we want sustainable behaviour to become normal behaviour, surely it has to work in the lives of people who aren’t particularly interested in sustainability too.

The person with the fiery eyes probably doesn’t need much convincing. It’s the one edging stealthily towards the fire exit we need to think about.

Could we create an environment where they reach the conclusion themselves rather than handing them a list of things they ought to be doing?

Because nobody particularly enjoys feeling as though they’ve been summoned to the headteacher’s office.

AND SO, IN THE INTERESTS OF AUTONOMY…

Having spent this post suggesting that telling people what to do is not the answer, I won’t do the same with you.

I would merely like to suggest that you may wish to consider this. Or not. Entirely up to you, obviously. I wouldn’t dream of interfering.