This news release originally appeared on the website of The Ohio State University and was written by Misti Crane.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Composting food scraps can prompt people to make other earth-friendly choices, new research has found.
When one California city started a composting program to keep food waste out of its landfill, residents began to pay more attention to other environmentally sound practices, such as taking shorter showers, according to a study led by Nicole Sintov, an assistant professor of behavior, decision making and sustainability at The Ohio State University.
“In our study, one pro-environment change appeared to lead to other benefits and that could be important to know as city leaders and others consider conservation projects,” said Sintov, formerly of the University of Southern California.
The study was part of a larger effort to look at the success of the composting program. Sintov’s study included 284 residents of Costa Mesa, a Southern California city that in 2015 began offering curbside recycling and compost pickup for its residents. Prior to the program, no curbside recycling was offered, Sintov said. The research appears in the journal Environment and Behavior.
Read the full news release written by Misti Crane here.