Office Paper Recycling: A Function of Container Proximity
Brothers, K. J., Krantz, P. J., & McClannahan, L. E. (1994). Office paper recycling: A function of container proximity. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 1, 153-160.
Investigated the effects of proximity of containers on pounds of office paper recycled and not recycled by 25 employees. During a memo and central container condition, 1 container for recyclable paper was provided; in a memo and local container condition, desktop recycling bins, announced by memo, were successively introduced across administrative, office, and instructional settings using a multiple baseline design. Only 28% of paper was recycled in the central container condition, but when recycling containers were placed in close proximity to participants, 88% of all recyclable paper was recycled. Follow-up assessments, conducted 1, 2, 3, and 7 mo after all settings received local recycling containers, showed that 84-98% of paper was recycled.
