Essay by Eric Worrall
Does recycling make the climate concerned feel they’ve done their bit? Or does it make them angrier?
Does using a reusable cup make you less likely to protest climate change? We tracked 2,800 Australians to find out
Published: July 24, 2026 1.39pm AEST
Ben Newell Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW
Omid Ghasemi Research Associate in Behavioural Science at the Institute for Climate Risk & Response, UNSW…
Does this promotion of individual behaviours crowd out or distract from supportfor large-scale action on climate change? Is it a convenient distraction perpetrated by corporations and governments who should be doing more?
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In new research, our team looked at these questions using data from the National Climate Action Survey. Running since 2021, this survey gives detailed insights into what Australians think, feel and do about climate change.
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We found that people who reported more personal actions also took part in collective activities and supported climate policies.
There was no evidence for the idea that personal action might reduce collective action or support for strong climate policy. This goes against arguments that people may feel they have done enough, overestimate the impact of individual actions, or feel less worried about climate change.
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But not a gateway either
We found no evidence that increasing (or decreasing) personal climate actions in one year had any effect on collective or political engagement the following year. In other words, personal action doesn’t seem to be a substitute for bigger action or a gateway to it.
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Read more: https://theconversation.com/does-using-a-reusable-cup-make-you-less-likely-to-protest-climate-change-we-tracked-2-800-australians-to-find-out-288197
The abstract of the study;
- Article
- Open access
- Published: 23 July 2026
Personal climate actions do not crowd out collective action and policy support: longitudinal evidence
- Omid Ghasemi,
- Karlien H. W. Paas,
- Graham L. Bradley,
- Charlie A. Ransom,
- Sameer Deshpande &
- Ben R. Newell
npj Climate Action volume 5, Article number: 62 (2026) Cite this article
Abstract
Individual pro-environmental behaviours are often promoted as a pathway to broader climate engagement, yet critics argue they may divert attention from more impactful systemic solutions. Using four annual waves of longitudinal survey data from Australia (2021–2024; N = 2778), we examined whether everyday climate actions predict collective action and policy support, and whether climate change risk perception, efficacy beliefs, and personal norms moderate these associations. Multilevel models showed that individual actions were consistently associated with greater collective engagement and, to a lesser extent, stronger policy support within the same year. Moderation analyses indicated that individual actions more strongly predicted collective engagement among individuals higher in risk perception, efficacy, and personal norm. In contrast, the association with policy support weakened slightly at higher levels of these moderators, although these moderation effects were very small. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models provided little evidence of systematic spillover across years, indicating that within-person changes in individual actions did not reliably predict subsequent changes in collective action or policy support. Overall, the findings challenged the crowding-out effect and suggested that increases in individual action do not undermine broader forms of climate engagement.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-026-00405-y
In other words there’s not a lot of point to recycling. If it formed a safety valve for people concerned about the environment to blow off steam, I’d be OK with keeping it. Better to have an extra trash can than a bunch of rioters trying to burn your automobile or lay waste to your neighbourhood.
But the study authors are saying it doesn’t really make a difference.
Of course recycling does serve one purpose – it allows hypocrite politicians to claim they’re helping the environment. So given we’re never going to run short of political hypocrisy, I’m guessing recycling will stick around for a long time, at least until it stops swinging votes towards politicians who support it.
