Episodes
In this episode, I share the secret to building your mission. You need to START by building a funnel, not an idea. If you're building an idea, campaign, or product and not building it as a funnel, you could be making a big mistake. Listen in, I'll share how to do it right. * * * How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest...
Published 02/27/24
In this episode, I explain the precise definition of how I see gamification. It's essentially tracking progress towards a goal, and rewarding people for making progress. This episode is a neat nugget of the core measurement-driven gamification principles you can use for making climate and environmental action happen. * * * How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author,...
Published 02/20/24
Did you know that the vast majority of environmental professionals have NO training in the job they are hired to do? That's the job of human influence. Environmental scientists, engineers, and lawyers are often hired for the job of influencing thousands of people to take action to meet sustainability goals, yet our training is in, well, science, engineering, and law - not the psychology of change. This means most of us working on environmental change make big mistakes when trying to...
Published 02/12/24
There are three big mistakes people make when they are trying to influence people to help the planet. In this episode, I share what these are and the five big levels you should be using instead that are proven to influence people to act. * * *How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top...
Published 02/05/24
In today's episode, I introduce a new endeavor I've been secretly burrowing away at. It's called ECOPIA and it's my ultimate dream project. ECOPIA's mission is to create child-centric properties that are built and designed for families to raise children together, as it's meant to be done, in groups (and with all the eco-friendly, zero-emissions, zero-waste features an apartment could need!) Modern parenting is deeply broken. Parents are more burned out, lonely, and stressed than ever before....
Published 01/23/24
How do you know that your project is REALLY changing what you want to change in the world? And how do you know if you are doing it effectively? In this episode, I share the core mechanism of what change is. This is such a fundamental primary principle that we tend not to see it. You MUST have these three axioms active for change to happen. If you don't, then no change is occuring. Unfortunately, most environmental projects fail at one or all three of the axioms and invest much time and...
Published 01/15/24
In today’s episode, we chat with behavioral and environmental psychologist, Dr Reuven Sussman, head of the Behavior and Health Program at The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). He conducts research about, and advocates for, energy efficiency in buildings and transportation - a sector that makes up the lion's share of carbon emissions. Dr Sussman is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and currently sits on the editorial board of The...
Published 01/08/24
In this episode, I share the four social-science-backed reasons for why you need to be heavily immersed in images of the positive eco future you are working to create. We'll cover the psychology of motivation, technical problem-solving, leadership, and systems-change. This epsides explores the deeper reasons why I put together the new Ecopia Store at ecopiastore.com where you can purchase art prints, hoodies, t-shirts, and calendars that show positive eco-futures. For years, I've...
Published 01/03/24
In this episode, I share an idea I designed and. I want you to steal it. It's called the V-Score. See the V-Score app design here. The most important factor that determines the health and environmentally friendliness of food is whether it comes from a plant or an animal. The measurement-driven design I teach is based on identifying a core metric of change. We can simplify the proportion of plant-to-animal calories into a simple metric called "The V-Score." Calculate the V-Score of each...
Published 12/18/23
Does giving people long lists of multitudes of eco actions help people do more green things? Or does it overwhelm, and hence hinder action? And how does the type of action on that list make a difference?  Today’s guest is Dr. Rueben Kline Ph.D. He is the Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Behavioral Political Economy at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. In our conversation, we bring evidence-based academic rigor to those big lists of...
Published 12/11/23
Today’s podcast is about an zero waste idea that is desperately needed in women’s bathrooms: a vending machine that sells reusable women’s period products like silicone cups, cloth pads, and period undies. How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford...
Published 11/20/23
The compost-a-TRON is an idea to encourage public composting, inspired by a curious behavioral study 30 years ago about a giant eagle shaped garbage can. How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and...
Published 11/13/23
In today’s episode, I talk with environmental and behavioral psychologist, Dr. Karine Lacroix Ph.D, about if a person’s individual eco-friendly behaviors (like riding a bike, composting, or eating less meat) can cannibalize or steer people away from taking actions that might influence bigger systems-wide change (like trying to influence your local Mayor, or meeting with a senator. Think of it like this. Does directing people reduce their own environmental impact for themselves (just one...
Published 11/06/23
How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford to unearth the evidence-based teachings you can use to rapidly get more people to adopt your environmental campaign, program, or product. Sign up for Katie's free behavior and gamification design course...
Published 10/30/23
How to Save the World is a podcast about the psychology of what gets people to do eco-behaviors and take climate action: Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford to unearth the evidence-based teachings you can use to rapidly get more people to adopt your environmental campaign, program, or product. Sign up for Katie's free behavior and gamification design course...
Published 10/23/23
This is the second part of the conversation with Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin AND the Executive Director of The Institute for Diversity Science, Dr Markus Brauer about what makes up real evidence-driven gamification.  Markus is the social scientist behind a behavior-change game called Cool Choices - a card game that gets workplace employees into groups with the goal of competing around energy and environmental behaviors. Markus gives us an understanding of the...
Published 10/16/23
Games sound fun, but do they really work to get people to actually do climate and eco-friendly things? And if so, why do they work?  Today's we’ll be talking with Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin AND the Executive Director of The Institute for Diversity Science, Dr Markus Brauer about what makes up real evidence-driven gamification.  Markus is the social scientist behind a behavior-change game called Cool Choices - a card game that gets workplace employees into...
Published 10/09/23
In this episode, I share a fundamental principle to guide your design thinking. You should always ask yourself, is this idea based on "primary principles?" And what are "primary principles" anyway? In order to make a campaign or startup that really works to get people to buy a green product or change a behavior, you need to build up your concept from the primary principles of how human beings function. Often we don't do this. We design our environmental projects based on on abstractions...
Published 10/02/23
In this episode, I explore the power of pledges in driving pro-environmental action and behavior. Pledges are seen as commitment devices, where individuals make promises or commitments to themselves or others. We highlight the effectiveness of pledges in engaging people and closing the value action gap. The episode delves into the various forms of pledges, such as written notes, online commitments, or public displays, and discusses the astonishing evidence from behavioral literature on...
Published 09/25/23
In today’s episode, we dive into the surprisingly powerful effect of social norms that seem to almost effortlessly shift environmental behavior. Social norms mean“This is what everyone else is doing” or “Here’s an example of what we want you to emulate.”   Our guest today is research psychologist Dr Alessia Dorigoni from the Neuroscience Consumer Lab at the University of Trento in Italy. Alessia is not just a psychologist through, she’s also a fine artist and behavioral economist...
Published 09/11/23
You probably have a new website you're trying to launch, a blog you need to finish, an app you're trying to complete, a presentation you need to give, and several unfinished art projects in your closet. I see you. I know you! In this episode, I share my own personal technique for getting complex things finished and shipped. I call it "short scoping." To "Short scope" is the opposite to "scope creep" or "feature creep" where are ideas get more branches and features as we work on them until...
Published 09/04/23
In this episode I offer an alternative strategy to shaming or criticizing small individual eco-friendly behaviors. I explain how you want to see social change like a staircase with many levels. Often taking a small individual action, like using a paper straw or driving less, is the first step a person makes on their staircase of influence. The goal is to inspire the person to step up from their small individual actions to a new set of more advanced actions that have the power to influence...
Published 08/28/23
Have you considered the power that lies in heavily niching down by geography? As in, go hyper local, and then geographically niche some more. In this episode, I share my thoughts on the mistakes I've observed by social change projects diluting their impact by spreading too broad. You might get followers by casting a broad net in the beginning, but you won't get the serious and measurable change you want to see from real humans doing real things *off* the internet. The keys to change lie...
Published 08/21/23
Our guest today is Professor Emeritus Bas Verplaken from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. He’s very much an elder in the study of attitude and habits in relation to health and human behavior and he has also been the editor of the book, The Psychology of Habits.  We discuss "Habit Discontinuity Hypothesis" which is a phenomenon whereby people are more apt to adopt new behaviors when their daily lives are disrupted, meaning some kind of discontinuity occurs, like moving...
Published 08/14/23