Archive for the ‘Enough Water’ Category

“Do your part” is the new kid on the words that work list, and here it is in action over at the Southwest Florida Water Management District website.

Click here to actually watch this video. The producers have not made it available for bloggers to use on their sites.

There’s a lot to like about the “Water Conservation Song,” written and performed by Asleep at the Wheel for the Austin, TX, water department, but I don’t think the PSA quite hits the mark.

Click here to watch the video. Now show it to a friend, without the sound on, and ask them what this commercial about.

After you finish laughing at their wacky answer, got any suggestions for the producers to fix it?

Nope. At least not if you ask most of your fellow citizens. That’s because this particular combination of words evokes a dire image of turning the taps and nothing comes out. That would be very motivating if it was credible, but it’s not. They find the prospect to be laughably far-fetched.

Even in the parched state of Texas, researchers for WRS Research reported in 2004:

Running out of water is something that most people have not considered and do not believe — communicating something that is unbelievable is ineffective.

Source: Texas Water Development Board Focus Group Report, 2004

So if we want to enlist everyday citizens in our efforts to make sure there’s enough clean water for future generations, we’re going to call the problem something other than “run out of water.” I tend to advise my clients to use language like: “Chronic shortages of clean water,” but I’m sure open to suggestions…

Hat tip to David at the Aquanomics blog for prompting me to expound on this particular topic today.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is now seeking grant proposals from public water systems and municipalities for (among other things) education programs that help address drinking water losses through local water conservation and education programs. Individual grants can range up to $60,000 with a 25% match.

I’m making two assumptions here: if they want behavior change out of this “education,” then they are amenable to action-oriented social-marketing style campaigns. Also, I’m betting that only public water systems and municipalities in Massachusetts can apply for these grants.

The RFR for the 2009 Water Conservation Grant Program has been posted on the state’s Comm-PASS website (http://www.comm-pass.com/). Click on “Search for Solicitiations”, then enter BRP 2008-03 into the “Keywords” box to find it.

If you have questions, contact Malcolm Harper at Mass DEP at (508) 767-2795 or malcolm dot harper at state.ma.us.

Good luck, applicants.