Welcome to the first BlueWater Outreach blog post.
Together, I hope, we'll explore some of the best ways to get people to change their water-use behaviors.
Almost any water conservation or water resource manager, or manufacturer of water saving devices, or consultants in the field can cite impressive, sometimes scary, statistics about limited water resources and wasteful practices.
But the general public -- just the average water user -- can't. They may be aware that water is a precious resource and that we all can do a better job of protecting and conserving it, but the truth is that most people have other things to worry about.
As long as clean water flows from the tap each day and the monthly bill isn't too high, most people simply think that someone else has the responsibility to bring us the water we use every day. After all, didn't Atlanta avoid disaster? Aren't lawns still being watered in Los Angeles County? Aren't golf courses in Phoenix still green?
It's common in many communities -- even those with water restrictions -- face overuse, or use that's incompatible with sustaining water resources.
It's not that Joe and Josephine Public are callous. Just ask them. Through the past eight years I've seen many surveys that ask the wrong questions: Is clean water important to you? Are you efficient with your water use?
Who would answer 'no' to clean water? And almost everyone will say they only use the water they need (but some of their neighbors are the real water hogs).
We think it's time to change the equation and give the public both emotional and rational reasons for changing their relationship with water.
Better communications will help. Top-down, ham-handed edicts on what people can and can't do with water don't work. At least not for long.
Water related messages should lead and guide people to better behaviors. We live in a collaborative society. (Blogs are proof of that.) We should use that collaborative spirit to create new social norms; create new avenues of understanding. That's not easy. Or quick. But if we listen -- really listen -- to Joe and Josephine Public, we'll find the right answers.
Your thoughts are welcome.
Look for next post on Adjusting Attitudes.
Labels: behavior change, social marketing, social norms, water, water conservation, water resource, water supply, water sustainability, water use
# posted by Blue Water Outreach @ 1:48 PM
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