[wasmitnetzen]

Probably because of the Shopping Cart Tragedy: The thinking that you can leave your shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot because it's someone's job to collect them.

So people might throw trash into nature because they think that someone will collect it.

[louissm_it]

I think we're at the point where the people who are going to throw trash are going to throw trash, and I don't believe something like the ocean cleanup will increase how much trash people throw into nature.

You can make the same argument that you shouldn't clean your own house because that will just encourage others to make it dirty again. And thats obviously not how it works. Some people throw trash and some don't.

We should clean it up anyways.

[SOLAR_FIELDS]

I wish it was as simple to solve as the Shopping Cart Tragedy. If you have an Aldi near you, you know that they never have problems with anyone leaving carts in the lot. A simple case of misaligned incentives that is easily solved with an effective solution. Shame that no other vendor in the States does it.

For those not familiar with Aldi in the States, they have a very rudimentary analog system that locks the carts up, and you put a US quarter in the lock to unlock the cart. You shop, put your groceries away, and when you go to lock the cart back up you get your quarter back. A quarter is basically nothing in today's modern age, but the mental desire to get it back is apparently powerful enough to incentivize people to walk the cart the 10 meters or so back to where it belongs. I haven't been to the Aldi's in Germany but I assume they work the same way.

[cdrini]

I love this approach! Most of the grocery stores in Canada (or are least Toronto) do this as well, expect it's usually a $1 coin.