[Coral-List] Doing something about it!!! Other then debating

[Pedro H. Rodríguez]

Jim,
 
Your offer is very generous. In order for a campaign of this sort to be effective, insights from social scientists must be tapped to discover what makes people so reluctant to change, even in the face of pervasive issues such as marine and coastal trash. I live near a beach that is subject to a massive yearly clean-up by NGOs and volunteers. The campaign also aims to educate people about proper waste disposal and recycling, but it seems that every year there is more garbage to clean (even though the locals are directly affected by having to swim in it). I have a feeling that something is wrong with the campaign's messaging, and that proper research has not been done about social issues such as trust and personal responsibility. I worry that a Web-based campaign about coral reefs that is not grounded on such basic social research will also fail, especially if more complex and less evident (to the non-scientist) issues such as ocean
 acidification are at its core. I agree with Kristopher's view that trash can become a rallying point for marine-conservation issues in general, but a good understanding of the underlying social drivers is needed.
 
Cheers,
Pedro


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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 15:45:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kristopher Clark <keepingtheoceansblue at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Coral-List] Doing something about it!!! Other then debating
To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>,
    "corales2006 at hotmail.com" <corales2006 at hotmail.com>,
    "szmanta at uncw.edu" <szmanta at uncw.edu>,    "johnbell32 at outlook.com"
    <johnbell32 at outlook.com>,    "colladol at fiu.edu" <colladol at fiu.edu>,
    "horlicks_1989 at yahoo.com" <horlicks_1989 at yahoo.com>,
    "southern_caribbean at yahoo.com" <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>,
    "qdokken at gulfmex.org" <qdokken at gulfmex.org>
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    <1365115524.88353.YahooMailNeo at web125501.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
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Hello all,
>From reading the discussions the past couple of weeks, it seems like we all know what the problem is and a key way to start a change.?I am not a scientist of any sort(I am currently working towards my?bachelors?in?environmental?science with a concentration on fish and wildlife management and plan to continue my education further once I have?received?my bachelors) and up until a few months ago I had no clue how serious the problems the oceans are faced with are. ?Once I began to understand the problems, I began to ask patients if they had ever heard of the Pacific Garbage "Patch"( I work as a patient transporter at a hospital, transporting patients to procedures, tests, etc. ?So I encountered at least 20 different individuals everyday)....