Nora Steimer is the managing director of IGSU, the Interest Group for a Clean Environment, an open platform against littering. The studied environmental and social psychologist tells what can be done against littering. Her love of nature has accompanied her ever since she was an active environmentalist in the Boy Scouts. Her goal is to change littering behavior for the better and make Switzerland cleaner.
We from the IGSU organize many measures against littering. But in the end it needs every single person.
You are a psychologist and in your master's studies you focused on behavioral psychology with an emphasis on social and environmental psychology. Why do people simply throw their waste on the street or into nature?
Littering does not occur because there are no litter bins or because they are full. Rather, the reasons are social changes. Mobility has increased, people are on the move more, and this also means that people consume more on the move. And as a result, there is more disposable packaging and the possibility that it will be littered. And part of it is simply laziness.
Is it also a question of age? Or a question of region?
We are very much opposed to saying that it is only the young people who are litters. Because that's not true. Young people litters in other situations: when they are in groups, because they want to prove their status in the group, as a sign of rebellion and to show that they are cool. Adults, on the other hand, litters when they feel unobserved because they know it's not good. For this reason, one can get the impression that littering is more of a young person's issue. But we have to be clear: everyone littered, across all generations.
There is no more littering in certain cantons or regions. We are really active everywhere. You can book school workshops with us everywhere, we are everywhere with our ambassador teams in use. The IGSU Clean-Up Day takes place in many communities.
The IGSU Clean-Up-Day is organized once a year. More than 700 communities, associations, schools and companies get involved.
The IGSU Clean-Up-Day is organized once a year. More than 700 communities, associations, schools and companies get involved.
The question is how to actually change that kind of behavior.
The focus of our measures is always on prevention to raise awareness. And there, both science and our practical experience show that measures are accepted that are positive, humorous and friendly.
And it's important that it's peer-to-peer communication. That's why we have a lot of young people working as ambassadors, especially in schools. The young people who work for us are role models, which can help create environmental awareness.
The global climate movement is picking up speed. Standing up for the environment is now really cool. And it's becoming stronger and more important for the younger generation and for all of us in general. How do you notice that?
Ten years ago, when I started at IGSU, "talking about litter" and littering was boring, a bit dusty. And now you immediately find a level with people and they have a lot of questions, so we can give them a lot of knowledge.
You've been on the management board of IGSU for ten years now. Was it ever an issue for you to be a woman in this management position?
When I started in the IGSU ten years ago, I was 25 years old. I didn't realize then that this could be an issue in the working world. But I realized very quickly that it definitely is, especially in the waste industry. I had to prove myself more, that I had something to say in this male-dominated industry. In the meantime, it's no longer like that - because I perform and they know that.
There are also spatial partnerships: individuals who regularly travel around a certain area and regularly clean it of litter.
There are also spatial partnerships: individuals who regularly travel around a certain area and regularly clean it of litter.
The love of nature has accompanied Nora Steimer since she was little and active in the Pfadi. The motto was: volunteer for people and the environment. And so they regularly collected litter and took care not to damage flora and fauna. This bond with nature led Nora to choose "environmental and social psychology" as her major field of study in psychology. And today, as executive director of IGSU, she is actively helping to ensure that behavior in dealing with waste develops in a positive way and that Switzerland becomes cleaner.
