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Student harnesses power of Facebook for green research

A PhD student at Kingston University is using Facebook to identify whether people are serious about sustainability, or just playing at being green.

Kavita Patel has designed a games application called iGreen which can be downloaded from the social networking site. The game is part of her research into how to encourage more eco-friendly behaviour. She is particularly interested in investigating whether those who play iGreen will be persuaded to act in a more sustainable way.

The iGreen application includes six different eco-games and rewards users with access to a new game whenever they answer a set of 15 questions about their lifestyle. "They get a free game when they first download the application," Kavita explained. "Then they get a second game when they answer the questions. The following week they are prompted to complete the survey again." The survey includes questions such as 'During the last week how many times did you throw away an item that could have been recycled?'.

"Already nearly 500 people have downloaded the app from Facebook, which is terrific," Kavita said. "I'm fascinated by the way social networking sites can be used to help with all kinds of research."

Professor Ruth Rettie from Kingston University's Business School says it is very difficult to change the way people act. "This is why we are exploring whether we can inspire people with fun games that could help to nudge them towards greener behaviour," she said.

Kavita hopes that her Facebook application will help people to see how their behaviour impacts on the environment. "There's no point lecturing people about sustainability - it just doesn't work," she explained.