Influencing the use of reusable dishes

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WHAT IS IT?

The model titled 'Influencing the Use of Reusable Dishes' simulates how a society influences individuals to adopt the use of reusable containers.

Based on a self-conducted study, it was found that out of 669 survey participants, 389 individuals had previously borrowed reusable containers for takeout meals or beverages at restaurants. Among this subset, 148 individuals consistently preferred reusable containers over disposable alternatives.

These figures served as the foundation for creating the model.

HOW IT WORKS

Each tick represents an unspecified unit of time.

The 'SETUP' button regenerates the model. The restaurant appears at the center, and the 67 individuals are distributed randomly. Among them, the 15 individuals already using reusable containers are depicted in green, while the remaining 52, who do not use reusables, are depicted in black and are also distributed randomly.

The 'GO' button initiates the simulation and the visualization, allowing it to run indefinitely.

The 'num-people-using-reusable' slider determines the amount of people, who use reusable dishes and have the color green.

The 'num-peoplenot--using-reusable' slider determines the amount of people, who are not using reusable dishes and have the color black.

The 'Influence over Time' graph displays two distinct lines: the green illustrates the progression of influenced individuals and the black line depicts individuals who do not use reusable containers.

The same data is reiterated in numerical form in three separate monitors located below the graph.

HOW TO USE IT

With the slider 'num-people-using-reusable' one can adjust the number of people. It is set to 15 people.

With the slider 'num-people-not-using-reusable' one can adjust the number of people, who are not using reusable dishes. It is set to 52 people.

To initiate the model, click on the 'SETUP' button.

Once the model, featuring the restaurant and various individual types, is displayed, click on 'GO'.

As the model's ticks proceed rapidly, it is advisable to adjust the tick speed using the 'NORMAL SPEED' slider located at the top of the interface. In order to do so, adjust the slider to the far left.

THINGS TO NOTICE

The amount of people not using reusable dishes gradually goes down, while the number of people using reusable dishes goes up.

THINGS TO TRY

Think about how information is spread in real-life scenarios. If the number of 'num-people-using-reusable' is smaller, it will take longer for the idea of using reusables to reach others. On the other hand, if there are only a few people not using reusable dishes, they will be influenced more quickly by the rest. Adjust the sliders accordingly and see what happens.

EXTENDING THE MODEL

Add additional sliders controlling the probability of the 'num-people-using-reusable' influencing others.

Build a similar model simulating the information spreading with different parameters, for example differentiate between the information spreading over only standing on the same patch but also over having friends etc.

Add sliders controlling the age of the people. Older people don't use reusable dishes as much as younger generations.

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CREDITS AND REFERENCES

This model was made by Johanna Helmreich.

Comments and Questions

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Click to Run Model

to setup
  clear-all                                                       ;; clear any existing elements and start from the beginning

  ask patches [set pcolor white]                                  ;; blank background

  create-turtles 1 [                                              ;; create the "restaurant"
    set shape "house"
    set color 74
    set size 3
    setxy 0 10
  ]

  create-turtles num-people-using-reusable [                      ;; create 14 people, because 14 out of 67 people always use reusable dishes
  setxy random-ycor random-ycor
  set shape "person"
  set color green

  ]

  create-turtles num-people-not-using-reusable [                  ;; create 53 people, because 53 out of 67 peole never or sometimes use reusable dishes
  setxy random-ycor random-ycor
  set shape "person"
  set color black
  ]

reset-ticks
end 

to go
  ask turtles with [shape = "person"] [                           ;; all people are moving around the model
    set heading random 360
    forward 1

    if color = green [move-to patch 0 10                          ;; if a person has the color pink then move to the restaurant and set color green, because reusable dishes were used
    setxy random-xcor random-ycor]                                ;; then set coordinates random again
    if any? other turtles-here with [color = black]               ;; if there a people with the color black on the same patch, then change color to green, because turtle was influenced
    [set color green]
  ]

  tick                                                            ;; a step has gone by
end

There is only one version of this model, created about 2 years ago by Johanna Helmreich.

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