We Probably Won't Recycle Shredded Paper
我们可能不会回收撕碎的纸
If something looks like trash you are more likely to trash it. Even if it has value—such as recyclable items like aluminum cans or torn paper. That’s according to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
如果有些东西看起来像垃圾,你可能会更倾向于将它扔到垃圾桶。即使这些东西有价值,比如说可回收的铝罐和碎纸之类的。这是消费者调查杂志上一篇研究得出的结论。
Volunteers were asked to evaluate a pair of scissors. Some were told to cut up sheets of paper. The others were instructed to examine the scissors but to leave their sheets of paper alone, uncut and intact. All of the participants were asked to discard the paper as they left the room.
志愿者被要求评估一把剪子。另外的一组被告知剪一些纸。另外一组被指导检查剪子但是将纸完好无损的留下。所有的参与者被要求在离开屋子之后将纸扔掉。
At the exit sat two identical trash bins, one labeled for recycling, the other for trash. And the people who shredded the paper were less likely to toss it in the recycling bin than those who were left holding the pristine sheets.
出口放置着两个有标识的垃圾桶,一个上面标着可回收,另一个标记着垃圾。将纸撕碎的人更倾向于将纸扔进垃圾桶,而不是可回收桶。
In another experiment, participants were less likely to recycle aluminum cans that were crumpled than empty cans still in good shape.
在另一个实验中,参与者倾向于将变形的铝罐扔到垃圾桶里。
More than two billion tons of trash gets tossed away every year around the globe. Figuring out how people think about what they’re going to discard should help the effort to squeeze more use out of less stuff.
全球每年超过20亿吨的垃圾被丢弃。找出人们丢弃垃圾的原因能减少垃圾的丢弃。
—Christie Nicholson