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Purpose: This paper aims to test a nudge, or intervention, designed through behavioral insights at a university campus to discover cost-effective means for increasing recycling participation and methods for estimating waste removal cost savings. Design/methodology/approach: A series of studies were conducted demonstrating the effectiveness of behaviorally based recycling interventions. Study locations included an academic building, a performing arts/studio arts building, a sports complex and a campus library. All locations already had robust and visible recycling programs in operation. Following an observation period, modifications were made to the locations of waste and recycling containers. Waste auditing procedures were used to quantify existing waste diversion rates, and changes to those rates following changes in choice architecture. Findings: Waste diversion rates improved and significant reductions in the proportion of recyclable materials in the trash were observed at all four study locations. Results indicate that the nudge of changing choice architecture can enhance recycling programs that are already recognized as successful. This paper also explains methods for estimating waste removal, which are important as it enables calculations of cost savings from such interventions. Finally, targeting plastic bottles to increase return on investment is recommended. Practical implications: Other colleges and universities can apply these methods to improve existing recycling programs and realize cost savings. Originality value: This is the first study to investigate the use of a nudge on waste management issues on a university campus. An easy-to-replicate method, which allows measuring realized cost savings, is explained.

Previous research links risky sexual behavior (RSB) to externalizing problems and to substance use, but little research has been conducted on relationships between internalizing problems (INT) and RSB. The current study addresses that literature gap, using both a twin sample from Colorado (N = 2567) and a second twin sample from Minnesota (N = 1131) in attempt to replicate initial results. We explored the hypothesis that the latent variable INT would be more strongly associated with the latent variable RSB for females than for males, examining relationships between INT and RSB via phenotypic confirmatory factor analysis and multivariate twin analyses. We found a small but significant phenotypic association between the latent variables. However, despite using two large twin samples, limited power restricted our ability to identify the genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying this association. Our sex differences hypothesis was not fully supported in either sample and requires further investigation. Our findings illustrate the complexity of the relationship between internalizing problems and risky sexual behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]