Event Title

Trends in the Sound Behavior Index 2012-2015: Tracking 28 Environmental Indicator Behaviors

Presentation Abstract

With growing numbers of programs devoted to environmental behavior change around the Salish Sea, there was a corresponding need for measures of behavior change. In response the Puget Sound Partnership created the “Sound Behavior Index,” an ongoing behavior change measure developed for the Puget Sound region and one of the agency’s Vital Signs. The Sound Behavior Index started tracking 28 residential-scale practices that can affect water quality and aquatic habitat in 2012. The index is based on a survey conducted every two years among a statistical sample of the region’s 4.5 million residents. It asks about specific, measurable, repetitive behaviors that are driven by personal choice. The Sound Behavior Index distills the region’s environmental performance into a single regional score, which can be tracked across time. The index can be broken down to the county level, providing more meaningful local measures. It can also be used to track each component behavior. Until this index there hadn’t been a uniform behavior change measure across the region, nor consistent local measures aside from one county. The Sound Behavior Index fills these gaps by measuring long-term shifts in environmental behaviors. While we have completed three surveys it is still relatively early in the life of the index. Results to date show that 11 of the behaviors have slightly improved, while 10 declined and 7 have not changed. This presentation will outline detailed findings and trends from this effort and discuss next steps.

Session Title

Behavior Change and the Salish Sea: Science and Application

Keywords

Keywords: behavior, behavior change, index, regional, local, performance, trends

Conference Track

People

Conference Name

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)

Document Type

Event

Start Date

2016 12:00 AM

End Date

2016 12:00 AM

Location

2016SSEC

Type of Presentation

Oral

Genre/Form

conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)

Contributing Repository

Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Subjects – Topical (LCSH)

Puget Sound (Wash.)--Population--Attitudes--Environmental aspects; Puget Sound (Wash.)--Environmental conditions--21st century; Environmental reporting--Washington (State)--Puget Sound

Subjects – Names (LCNAF)

Puget Sound Partnership

Geographic Coverage

Puget Sound (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Comments

Co-authors: Dave Ward, Lynda Ransley, Debbie Ruggles, Randall Pozdena, Bruce Brown

Rights

This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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Jan 1st, 12:00 AM Jan 1st, 12:00 AM

Trends in the Sound Behavior Index 2012-2015: Tracking 28 Environmental Indicator Behaviors

2016SSEC

With growing numbers of programs devoted to environmental behavior change around the Salish Sea, there was a corresponding need for measures of behavior change. In response the Puget Sound Partnership created the “Sound Behavior Index,” an ongoing behavior change measure developed for the Puget Sound region and one of the agency’s Vital Signs. The Sound Behavior Index started tracking 28 residential-scale practices that can affect water quality and aquatic habitat in 2012. The index is based on a survey conducted every two years among a statistical sample of the region’s 4.5 million residents. It asks about specific, measurable, repetitive behaviors that are driven by personal choice. The Sound Behavior Index distills the region’s environmental performance into a single regional score, which can be tracked across time. The index can be broken down to the county level, providing more meaningful local measures. It can also be used to track each component behavior. Until this index there hadn’t been a uniform behavior change measure across the region, nor consistent local measures aside from one county. The Sound Behavior Index fills these gaps by measuring long-term shifts in environmental behaviors. While we have completed three surveys it is still relatively early in the life of the index. Results to date show that 11 of the behaviors have slightly improved, while 10 declined and 7 have not changed. This presentation will outline detailed findings and trends from this effort and discuss next steps.