Author: BASS Board: Elizabeth Meshes, Susan Schneider, Jessica Ghai, Audrey Breault, Stephanie Xie
Sustainability is not only a technological or political challenge: it is a behavioral one. We often wait for systems to change while overlooking that systems are built from individual behavior.
Every day, people make thousands of choices that shape the environment: what to buy, what to eat, how to travel, and what to throw away. These choices accumulate across individuals, organizations, and communities to produce large-scale outcomes. If behavior is part of the problem, it is also part of the solution, and behavior can be changed.
Large-scale environmental problems can feel overwhelming. But these outcomes are the cumulative result of individual and organizational behavior. Each decision—to recycle or not, to drive or walk, to waste or conserve—contributes to broader patterns. Behavior analysis emphasizes designing systems that support better choices. Nevertheless, climate change is a “wicked problem,” and it can be helpful not to go at it alone.
Action through Community
The Behavior Analysis for Sustainable Societies Special Interest Group (BASS SIG) was established to bring behavior analysts together around this idea: that the science of behavior has a critical role to play in addressing environmental challenges. From climate change to waste reduction, sustainability is fundamentally about behavior. Behavior analysts study behavior best.
BASS provides a space for behavior analysts to actively engage in sustainability-focused work. Through monthly community meetings, members connect to share ideas, discuss challenges, and build momentum around ongoing efforts.
BASS also offers opportunities for dissemination, collaboration, and feedback on projects ranging from individual initiatives to organizational and systems-level work. Whether you are developing a research study, implementing a sustainability intervention, or exploring how to apply behavioral principles in new contexts, BASS members have created a community where that work can be strengthened and supported.
An Invitation to the Field
As behavior analysts, we have the tools to design environments that support better choices, influence systems, and promote long-term well-being. The opportunity is not just to study behavior, but to apply that science in ways that matter at a societal level.
Sustainable societies are not created by intention alone. They are built – behavior by behavior, system by system. Come build a better planet with us!
Behavior analysts interested in sustainability are encouraged to join the BASS SIG monthly community meetings to support ongoing research, collaboration, and dissemination efforts. We maintain an email list and circulate a monthly e-newsletter with upcoming events and resources.
Join us at the Association for Behavior Analysis International Annual Convention in San Francisco on Saturday, May 23, 2026, for a social gathering at 1:00 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens, and our business meeting from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.