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Interventions designed to encourage a particular pro-environmental behavior may have unintended consequences on other behaviors. These so-called “spillover” effects can be positive (for example, when increasing water conservation behaviors also leads to increased energy conservation behaviors) but advocates may also be concerned that they will be negative (for example, when enrolling in a green power program gives people moral license to consume more energy overall). While research on spillover effects is in its early stages, there are few signs to be concerned. On average, spillover effects on other behaviors are negative, but they are also negligibly small. However, keep in mind that most of these studies were conducted in the lab. Looking at the few studies in the field on spillover effects in real world behavior, there are more positive effects.             

When messaging about climate impacts, don’t lead with temperature goals. For most people, “1.5°C” of global warming just doesn’t seem that bad. In the US, nearly 50% of respondents felt there would be no change or perhaps even slight improvement to life on a hotter Earth. Globally, the average person believed the U.N proposed a cap on warming of an additional 4°C (putting us on track for an utter catastrophe.) Globally, less than a third of people know what the Paris Agreement is.