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While traditional economics is rooted in the idea that all actors (i.e. people) behave
ally at all times, behavioral economics stems from the observation that when confronted
with everyday decisions we as humans often choose the option that is not in fact in our best
interest. An example of "irrational" behavior can be seen when we devour chocolate
cake for dessert even though we have promised ourselves not to eat anything that sinful all week
(even up until that dessert cart came around). We do things we would never do in a rational state
because we are human. But even when we think we're being rational, we oftentimes are not.

Behavioral economics seeks to alter the "choice architecture" in which we make these
common choices in order to make the most rational choice (that is, the one in our own or
society's best interest) simultaneously the most obvious. By not pushing around the dessert cart
in front of us as we're making the choice, we can improve individual and societal health, happiness, and well-being.

We plan to create controlled experiments in which we can test the efficacy of our nudges. The problems our four experimental "nudges" are designed to solve are:

Nudge 1: Changing default sleep settings of computers

Problem: Because one must overcome a certain level of inertia to change the default, many computers (both laptops and desktops) are not set to go to sleep or hibernate when inactive. As a result, power and battery life are wasted. We will see if making it lowering the inertia barrier to change one's computer settings will result in saved energy and battery life.

The Nudge:
Develop an online tutorial and Facebook App guiding people through changing their settings. Also, have dorm RCCs host "office hours" in residence lounges to manually change residents' settings.


Nudge 2: Getting people to reduce showering times

Problem: We do not generally pay attention to the amount of time that we spend in the shower,
at times taking unnecessarily long showers

The Nudge:
Waterproof style stickers will be stuck at eye-level within shower stalls to nudge people to take shorter showers. We plan to create two different stickers with differing tag-lines.
Sticker 1: Tag-lines on these stickers will center around conforming to the average person's showering time and benefits to the environment.
Sticker 2: Tag-lines on these stickers will play to the risk-averse nature of students by stating that a lot of time is being lost in the shower

Nudge 3: Improving recycling diversion rates

Problem: Many people do not recycle easily recyclable waste despite the quantity of recycling receptacles such as trash cans. We will test whether or not a simple relabeling of receptacles will significantly improve trash diversion rates.

The Nudge:
We would label various trash receptacles (i.e compost and landfill bins in dining halls) on campus as "Non-Recyclables" and “Recyclables.” This will include a sticker program for students living in dorms to label their own trash receptacles as "Non-Recyclables." We would also re-label trash dumpsters as "Non-Recyclables."

Nudge 4: Reducing energy and water impact from clothes washing machines

Problem: Students do not choose "bright colors" option for washing clothes when washing cloths
that do not require warm or hot water. Choosing “bright colors” saves 80% more energy than
choosing “whites.”

The Nudge:
Install green stickers around "Bright Colors" button on clothes washing machines with the text, "Go Green."