Chelsea Kerr, Managing Director at Too Good To Go UK & Ireland, explains why better system design encourages sustainable behaviour change, not catchy slogans.
Consumers want to make sustainable choices, but behaviour will only change at scale when we are able to build operating systems that make those choices more accessible.
Sustainability messaging for consumers focuses increasingly on raising awareness, but in reality, there are far more practical reasons why lasting behavioural change is difficult to create.
Three-quarters of UK adults say they have made lifestyle changes to help tackle environmental issues. Yet despite wider public understanding, sustainable behaviour often remains inconsistent.
The reason is simple: affordability and convenience remain two of the biggest barriers preventing consumers from committing to more sustainable habits.
In fact, the proportion of consumers saying they have not taken one or more sustainable actions because it is too expensive has risen significantly in recent years, increasing from 52% in 2022 to 61% in 2024.
The broader economic context is also hugely relevant. Rising food prices, ongoing supply chain disruption and wider geopolitical uncertainty are placing even greater pressure on household budgets. Shoppers have been forced to adapt their habits, with 85% worried about food prices and 43% buying cheaper products as a result.
In this environment, it is important to make sustainable food shopping more economically accessible, while also communicating these options to consumers in ways that feel practical, relevant and achievable in everyday life.
That gap between acknowledgement and action presents a challenge for businesses, but it also represents an opportunity.
Every day, organisations shape behaviour through things like packaging, store layouts, delivery models and operational systems. Whether intentional or not, businesses have a significant influence on consumer behaviour.
Sustainable actions are no different. People are far more likely to choose the option that is easiest, quickest and gives the greatest value for money.
For retail and hospitality, that means making lower-waste choices easier and more accessible in practice. Across the sector, including through initiatives like Too Good To Go, businesses are increasingly using smarter markdown processes, surplus redistribution and digital tools to help consumers access food that would otherwise go to waste.
Research has shown that strategic markdown pricing can help reduce unnecessary waste while making lower-cost food more accessible to consumers, helping sustainable choices feel more practical in everyday life.
This is the principle that underpins Too Good To Go’s work with our partners. By helping retailers and food businesses connect surplus food with consumers in real time, we’re supporting a shift where sustainability is not an additional action, but part of the normal flow of how food is bought, sold, and consumed.
Ultimately, the most effective path to reducing food waste is not about asking consumers to change behaviour in isolation; it’s about helping businesses to build systems that allow consumers to make better choices.
When sustainability is embedded into everyday experiences, it becomes not just possible, but practical, repeatable, and scalable.
The post Why sustainable behaviour change starts with systems, not slogans appeared first on Circular Online.