Small changes give big results

What makes people separate paper trash from other trash? Is it kindness to nature and the world? Fear of global warming? Maybe it's the comfort of having all your newspapers in one place so you can re-read them more easily?

Let's do a small challenge first and we'll get back to the trash issue in a moment.

Start with your goal

1. Pick a habit that you'd like to have.
2. Write what you are trying to accomplish? What action would like to perform regularly? "I'd like to jog regularly"
3. Write a list of things, actions, environments, people, tools, your emotions, your current behavior, furniture etcetera that has a connection to the desired behavior. You could write "running shoes".
4. What small changes can you do to each of those things that will support your habit? Write at least one change for each item on your list. Buy a pair of really nice running shoes or pack them nicely together with a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of tube socks. Something that improves your motivation or lowers your barriers.

Design helps your habits

For most people recycling and getting rid of trash is a question of comfort and availability combined with knowledge of long term consequences of ones actions. You could say that the long term consequences of global warming is the motivation and the design of trash bins and recycling sites is the size of barriers stopping or helping you to act consciously.

You can lower barriers by designing and arranging your world to support your habit building. I'm using a broad definition of design here. It incorporates things like designing your bus route to support a habit.