Information Letter

Research title: Pro-environmental Behaviour and Differential Reinforcement to

Increase Reusable Packaging within the School Community

Principal Investigator: Taylor Rainville

Name of supervisor: Pamela Shea

Invitation

You are being invited to take part in a research study. I am a student in my 4th year of
the Honours Bachelor of Behavioural Psychology at St. Lawrence College. I am
currently on placement at St. Lawrence College with Sustainability. While I am at this
placement, I am completing an applied thesis research project as part of my college
program. The information in this form will help you understand my research. Please
read the information carefully and ask all the questions you might have before you
decide if you want to participate.

Why is this research study being done?

My project is being done to examine if behavioural practices and environmentally

friendly initiatives are effective in changing the behaviour of SLC students. The
research is using the Cano application as a way to encourage individuals to use
reusable food packaging containers instead of the current onetime use containers. I
have created a questionnaire to evaluate how the staff at Browns Cafeteria feel about
promoting Cano products in the cafeteria. This will be done as a part of my project to
see if Cano uses increase once staff are encouraged to promote Cano. In turn this will
decrease the amount of food wastage created at SLC.

What will you need to do if you take part?

If you choose to take part in the survey, you will have to answer five questions about
your opinions on the Cano application. Including possible barriers to promoting Cano.
Click the link provided at the bottom of this email. The link will take you to the
survey. The survey will also provide instructions to enter a draw to win a prize. The
survey is expected to take no longer than 10 minutes maximum.

What are the potential benefits of taking part?

By participating you will help the school understand motives and barriers behind
promoting Cano. As well as feedback that we can use to help make promoting Cano
more successful. Also, by participating in this research you have the capabilities to
improve future environmental research. This will help the field of behavioural
psychology expand into the area of environmental change and other larger
populations.

What are the potential risks of taking part?

Although risks are minimal, responding to some of the questions may make you feel
uncomfortable. Everything remains anonymous so there is no data risk to the survey.
If you wish to be entered into the draw to win a prize your email may be noted for you
to collect your prize.

What happens if something goes wrong?

If when filling out the questionnaire some of the questions make you feel
uncomfortable, you can skip the question. If you need to talk to someone, you may
talk to myself, Jadon Hook (Sustainability Coordinator), or my college supervisor
Pamela Shea

Will the information you collect from me in this research be kept private?

Your privacy and confidentiality are important to us. We will take every reasonable
step to keep any information that identifies you confidential unless required by law.
All survey results will be stored on the placement student laptop in a secure folder for
up to one year after the survey and will then be deleted and destroyed. The results
from the research are part of my thesis, and my thesis will be made available at the St.
Lawrence College library. The results will also be presented at St. Lawrence College’s
Behavioural Psychology Poster Gala, but any such presentations will be of general
findings and will never breach individual confidentiality.

Do you have to take part?

Taking part is voluntary. It is up to you to choose whether you wish to participate in

this research or not. If you agree to take part, you will be asked to click the I consent
box. Since this data is anonymous, it is not possible to withdraw or remove the data
collected up to the point of withdrawal. Choosing not to participate at a later time
won’t have any impact on your current job at Browns Cafeteria. Data will be stored
virtually on the thesis student’s computer for up to one year after the survey has
concluded. The data will then be permanently deleted. Anonymous data will be used
to provide information for the thesis. The thesis may be subject to review and
publications and could be used in a poster presentation and/or conferences.
Contact for further information

This research has received ethical clearance from the Research Ethics Committee for
Behavioural Psychology (REC-P) under the authority of the St. Lawrence College
Research Ethics Board (SLC-REB). The project was developed under the supervision
of Pamela Shea, my supervisor from St. Lawrence College. Thank you for your
consideration. If you have more questions, feel free to ask me, Taylor Rainville, at
taylor.rainville@student.sl.on.ca. You can also ask my college Supervisor, Pamela
Shea at pshea@sl.on.ca . If you have any worries about the way this research is being
conducted or about your rights as a participant, you may contact the SLC-REB Chair
at reb@sl.on.ca .

Consent

By clicking this box, I am acknowledging that I have read and understood the above
information. I understand that this survey is voluntary and anonymous.

q I consent