ABSTRACT
Throughout this book, I have discussed the different aspects of waste prevention issues and argued that they are mostly behavioural problems, caused by the collective actions of individuals and their underlying beliefs and values. Technological innovation, mitigation and adaptation, and regulations concerning, not only waste generation issues but also, the diversity of environmental impacts are interconnected by human actions. By framing environmental research as exclusive to natural and applied sciences, the scientific community helps people to distance themselves from these problems, as well as their responsibility for them. Looking at human behaviour is crucial for solving environmental degradation (e.g. waste generation issues). Thus, central to this entire discussion of waste prevention behaviour is the recurring principle of interconnection. Just as the ecosystem of our planet is based on interactive relationships, so should environmental research be as well. Sustainable development depends on interdisciplinary research and mostly on researchers open enough to effectively interact and cooperate (not only collaborate) with others from different areas of knowledge. Environmental research is enormously complex and no one discipline can capture everything. It may be easier to immediately focus on natural science to explain the processes behind environmental problems and, consequently, to rely on applied science to solve them. However, when looking into the cause of these problems a simple phrase echoes ‘Based on the scientific evidence, I am convinced that we are facing anthropogenic climate change brought about by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere’ (von Storch 2006). Acknowledging human action as a cause of environmental degradation means that social science plays an important role not only to explain but also to change human behaviour regarding the environment. I believe that only by fostering a truly interdisciplinary research atmosphere, i.e. where different areas of knowledge co-exist as a function of a problem and not of a theory, environmental researchers will be able to eventually help not only to decrease environmental impacts but also to shift human behaviour toward a sustainable society. The inaction will ensure that environmental research remains fragmented as usual, yet ‘research as usual’ is already leading to several published articles which make little contribution to promote further insights on how to achieve a sustainable society. It is imperative. We need to organise our researches around effective ‘tools’ and concentrate on their contribution and utility to sustainable development. Our planet does not care if we spend centuries debating the merits of each area of knowledge and nor which theory is better. While we discuss, the planet will continue to deteriorate, causing more severe flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme variations on weather. By recognising the interconnectedness of different disciplines on environmental research, the scientific community will offer an intellectual coherence to a discipline increasingly fragmented by diverse competitive theories and by the great challenge of human behaviour.
