<p> It is worth great effort to identify the motivation a person may have to live a certain way. Efforts in persuading a person to change are fruitless if he or she lacks the right motivation. This thesis identifies strict parameters for sustainability as well as impediments to future sustainability. Further, it examines possible ways to overcome such impediments. Building on previous research in the field of environmental motivational research, this research proposes nine motivations why people not associated with environmental behavior would want to live a more sustainable lifestyle. The small rural town of Albion, Idaho was selected as the sample for this research. Residents living within the sample area displayed very little desire to change their current lifestyle. Top motivations for living more sustainably were a desire to live a healthier lifestyle, to live more self-reliantly, and the desire to wear things out such as reusing a zip lock bag multiple times instead of throwing it out after only one use, in order to get the most use out of any one item. In a focus group discussion, comments by participants referred to the desire to keep traditions alive, provide educational opportunities to their children, and furnish their children with the ability to live a healthier lifestyle as core reasons to live sustainably. In the mind of the participants, there is not much difference between the terms "sustainable lifestyle," "self-reliant lifestyle," and a "rural lifestyle." All three lifestyles are viewed synonymously.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> sustainable, sustainability, environmental sustainability, stewardship motivation, motivation for sustainability, environmental motivations, environmental motivational research</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1562655 |
| Date | 30 September 2014 |
| Creators | Hansen, D. Kevin |
| Publisher | Prescott College |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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