A few words from
Litter Committee Chairman, Steve Pierz
For those of you not on the Mayor's Litter Committee, I was asked to head up Peoria's anti-litter campaign. We are attempting to figure out what makes people WANT to change. Our approach is to start with all the neighborhood leaders who are active, have credibility, and are successful in getting things done. We created a strategic plan for attacking litter. This plan is NOT the Mayor's plan or my plan but PEORIA'S plan. The anti-litter initiative will be successful because we did not make it a top-down, punitive, or negative initiative based on what Lou Tice says below, "What Makes People Want to Change?"
To everyone that lives in or takes advantage of Peoria (living outside and coming in), I need you all to pick one block (both sides) and ADOPT it. I know you are asking yourself what does he mean by ADOPTING. Well, it means once a week or once every two weeks you walk your block and pick up the HUMAN GENERATED LITTER. Our goal is to have every major artery in Peoria adopted. I have adopted University hill and Union hill. At the very most, this is a one-hour activity that will allow you to get out and do something good for Peoria and yourselves. For the vast majority of us, Peoria's success is our success, and it is a great city, one that should be filled with pride to live in or work in.
If everyone contributed one hour to picking up litter that would be the equivalent of adding 200 people to the City's staff. It is in everyone's personal and family best interest to keep Peoria vibrant and growing.
"What Makes People Want to Change?"
What makes people want to change? Notice, I didn't say "think they should change." Let's talk about the answer to this question today.
There are many things that make people think they should change, and all of them add up to pressure from outside themselves. It may be disapproval from a family member or friend. It may be social or cultural norms or even prohibition. It may be fear of punishment or humiliation.
But when pressure to change is coming from the outside world, our desire to change is probably going to disappear as soon as the pressure is removed. The results of our change efforts are not very likely to last. What makes people really want to change is pressure coming from inside. Most important is the desire to move toward greater experiences of pleasure.
Next comes the knowledge that if we don't change, we will be violating our own standards, failing to live like the person we know ourselves to be. It also helps if we realize that the results of not changing will be far more painful than any discomfort we may create for ourselves if we do change. A technique that's really useful when it comes to creating positive and lasting change is to use the power of your imagination.
Create vivid mental pictures linking pleasure and rewards to the behavior you want and pain and discomfort to the behavior you want to get rid of. Play these "mental movies" for yourself several times a day, every day. If you really focus your attention on them you'll be creating new associations in your brain, associations that will make it much easier for you to change your behavior in a lasting, positive way.
- Lou Tice, The Pacific Institute
http://www.loutice.com