Ways to encourage people to consume more sustainably without the obvious poking with stick approach!

With such a broad question, I have quite a narrow answer. What interests me the most is the value-action-gap. Because closing that gap doesn't only increase the sustainabliltiy of a person's consumption but also the sustainablity of actions outside of the consumer sphere. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that simple! But we are constantly faced with the 'how' of that proposal. I have started to notice how dangerous ennvironmental guilt is. At christmas/easter etc when I see relatives, it seems the very fact that i study environmental science provokes outbursts of what 'what I do for the environment' talks. I can barely say hello before I am given a told in great detail about how much recycling they do! It seems to me they do this because they take a defensive stance, preparing to be shown as someone whose values and actions don't match up. So I say the value action gap is dangerous, because I think we all are very much aware of it in ourselves, and thus guilt ensues. But I think the answer to this is to face it head on. A couple of years ago I had a conversation with a vegan friend of mine, which left me feeling like a fool for being a vegetarian, when it obviously wasn't the enough, if I wanted to feel like I was protecting the environment. Given some time (and nice piece of cheese) to think it over, and I realised that actually everyone of us has limits. Only the high and mighty don't like to think this is true. In the end, we all live and breathe and emit carbon dioxide. And I think it is obvious to say, that guilt is not an effective motivator. To close the value action gap requires two things; to increase the education which helps us form our values, and also to come to terms with our own personal limits, whilst also realising the ones we haven't reached e.g. get more insulation but keep the holiday. I know that this is not the overall solution and it doesn't go far enough but as we discussed today, habits are hard to break, so a strong move in the right behavioural direction is a good start.