Changing Society's Attitude towards Environment by Changing Society's Culture

Traditionally, a person's lifestyle was more locally determined and evolved slowly. Man has been seen to have an inherent nature to segregate within the species according to an individual's colour, ethnic group, language, profession, high income groups, low income groups etc and the list goes on to infinitesimally smaller and smaller groupings within each group. It can also be observed that each of these groups form a culture for themselves that is different from the rest. The power of peer pressure to influence individual behaviour is well documented in social psychology literature. People's behaviour, as it relates to environmental change, is influenced by the behaviour of their peers and social norms what they perceive to be acceptable to others. Everything else society, culture, social structure, power, groups, organizations is ultimately dependent on the acts of individuals. If the culture of a certain group of people is to be conscious of society and the environment, then this is reflected positively in consumption patterns and waste management practices. On the flip side, if the culture is not to be environmentally aware and have a 'don't care' attitude, then again, this trend is bound to continue in the opposite trajectory, as seen in most of our surroundings. This paper will suggest how behaviour is influenced by knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, and desires, efforts to change behaviour in ways that would benefit the environmentand how individual behaviour changes the society culture.