Moving Sustainability out of the Workplace? (2009)

Undergraduate: Rachel Escobar

Faculty Advisor: Nichola Lowe
Department: International & Area Studies

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Think global, act local. This environmentalist mantra has taken root in the creation and subsequent implementation of municipal government policy regarding energy use. Mexico’s Department of Energy awarded the 2008 national prize to San Pedro Garza García for the current administration’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives. This analysis of San Pedro sets out to synthesize past research on public-sector workplace initiatives, energy conservation and efficiency, and youth employee participation. The thesis questions first, how does working in an environmentally friendly workplace affect the energy use behaviors of young employees? And, are these effects confined to the workplace or can they go further? I discovered evidence, documented and verbalized, indicative of changes in youth employees’ energy use behaviors. The youth also expressed a self-identification with the environmental movement as a whole, to varying degrees. Their engagement with the energy policies’ overall goals suggests that the workplace can be an effective space for promoting environmentally friendly behaviors. Based on the results of this analysis, I postulate that the successes of the municipal administration’s efforts will be insufficient for catalyzing long-lasting behavioral change. This thesis concludes by presenting some of the current efforts by municipal employees of all ages and San Pedro environmentalists to stimulate public engagement with environmental protection. I propose a policy-workplace feedback loop as a vision of capitalizing on these combined efforts and bridging the missing link between workplace transformations, public action, and the reinforcement of progressive environmental policy.