The circular economy: a lever to prevent ecoanxiety

The project explores the relationship between ecoanxiety and the circular economy.

While ecoanxiety can affect the conditions of environmental commitment at the individual level (Clayton, 2020), pedagogical intervention practices were found to be an effective means of transforming the anxiety stemming from ecoanxiety into a motivator for environmental action (Gousse-Lessard and Lebrun-Paré, 2022).

The research aims to determine whether a similar dynamic is at work from an organizational perspective. While it is widely known that environmental damage is largely the result of organizational activities (Ones et al., 2018), it is also acknowledged that many organizations are striving to reduce their carbon footprint by implementing dedicated practices across production cycles for the sound use of resources, recycling and energy conservation (Francoeur and Paillé, 2022).

These elements raise several questions: is there a tangible link between circular economy practices and the consideration of ecoanxiety? Does the implementation of circular economy practices at the micro-organizational level help regulate the possible rebound effects of ecoanxiety (absenteeism, dropping out, lack of attraction)? Under what conditions do circular economy practices foster employee actions for the environment?