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Two volunteers holding recycle signs covering faces, wearing eco friendly t-shirts in park. Environmental conservation campaign, green lifestyle concept, global teamwork for climate awareness. Two volunteers holding recycle signs covering faces, wearing eco friendly t-shirts in park. Environmental conservation campaign, green lifestyle concept, global teamwork for climate awareness.

Recycling isn't a distraction, but it won't stop climate change either

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Photo: Adobe Stock

Melissa Lyne
Melissa Lyne,

For years we've been told that governments and corporations promoting individual actions like recycling are conveniently distracting citizens from wanting large-scale action on climate change. Is it true?

A led by 91色情片 Sydney behavioural scientists, in collaboration with researchers from , found no evidence for claims that climate action at the individual level distracted from meaningful action on climate change.

After following almost 2800 Australians over four years through the , the researchers found people who made environmentally friendly choices 鈥 recycling, using reusable cups and containers, taking public transport, adopting greener diets and cycling to work 鈥 were not less likely to support broader climate action.

That finding contradicts a long-running criticism that governments and companies encourage small lifestyle changes to from the harder work of transforming energy systems and regulating industry.

鈥淚ndividual climate actions neither facilitate nor undermine broader climate engagement,鈥 says lead author Dr Omid Ghasemi from the 91色情片 Institute for Climate Risk & Response.

鈥淲e found no evidence for the idea that personal action might reduce collective action or policy support because people feel they've done enough, overestimate the impact of individual actions, or feel less worried about climate change,鈥 he says.

Instead, the research suggests everyday environmental behaviours are expressions of existing values rather than catalysts 鈥撀爋r obstacles 鈥 for broader political engagement.

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Omid Ghasemi
Ben Newell
Featured experts
Omid Ghasemi, Ben Newell,
The researchers say promoting the adoption of greener behaviours by individuals doesn't undermine support for broader climate action 鈥 but that those initiatives shouldn't be treated as substitutes for large-scale action. Photo: Adobe Stock

Not a gateway

Australians who took more personal environmental actions in general tended to be more politically engaged overall 鈥 and more likely to sign petitions, attend demonstrations and support climate policies. But tracking those same people between 2021 and 2024 showed that increasing someone's personal climate actions did not, by itself, make them more 鈥 or less 鈥 politically engaged the following year.

鈥淥ur research contradicts the strongest version of the 'recycling is a distraction' argument,鈥 says Professor Ben Newell, Director of the 91色情片 Institute for Climate Risk & Response.

鈥淏ut it also offers little support for the idea that small lifestyle changes automatically lead people towards activism or systemic reform.鈥

Dr Ghasemi says the study doesn't dismiss the concern of governments and companies targeting consumer behaviour to shift their own responsibility away from systemic reform.

鈥淧ersonal and systemic action are not necessarily rivals,鈥 he says.
Personal and systemic [climate] action are not necessarily rivals.
Dr Omid Ghasemi

Beyond public policy

The researchers also detected a small decline in collective climate action and support for climate policy between 2021 and 2024, although personal environmental behaviours remained relatively stable.

Dr Ghasemi says a possible explanation is cost-of-living pressures.

鈥淲hen people are under more financial pressure, they may have less time, energy, or willingness to engage in collective action or support policies that are perceived to have economic costs,鈥 he says.

鈥淏ut whatever the reason, our results suggest that it is not driven by greater engagement in individual climate action.鈥

The findings also carry implications for businesses investing in sustainability programs.

Encouraging employees or customers to adopt greener behaviours may not undermine support for broader climate action, but neither should those initiatives be treated as substitutes for deeper organisational change.

鈥淒oing more personal climate action doesn鈥檛 seem to come at the expense of broader climate engagement,鈥 Dr Ghasemi says.

Read more about how taking small, personal actions doesn鈥檛 stop people from seeing the big picture on climate change at .

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