I
found this talk fascinating, informative and alarming. Penny subtitled her talk
“An overview of behaviour change campaigns related to water conservation and
water quality in North Queensland and the great Barrier Reef” which gave the
first impression that we were going to cover a lot of ground, physically and
ecologically. However, Penny then
focussed on her years of work as part of a team aiming to change the behaviour
of Townsville residents as it impacted on the environment; particularly on
their use of water as it affected their lifestyle. She described several problems the town faced
because of its situation, the variable rainfall and climate and the entrenched
water use habit. This is engendered by a lax water use policy combined with
inadequate water storage for the city based on the Ross River Dam, primarily designed
for flood mitigation. At the other end of the cycle where the water goes next
affects the river, the wetlands and then the sea water quality. Townsville
contributes as much polluted water to the reef, from runoff from roads and
overwatering of lawns, as does Abbot Point dredging.
In
Townsville, public education in the environment and its needs were a focus and
these covered the schools, stalls at community events and so on. It was clear
that many had no experience of any environment outside the town nor what lived
there and how it impacted on them, for example the reason for stinky fish kills
at times of low water flows. Research showed that the major water use was lawn
watering (70% of the total household use) as the social expectation was that
everyone would have a green lawn… green lawns are good and show your social
standing and commitment. This use, particularly in the winter dry season, when
the lawns are not grow-ing, leads to increased nitrogen loads from dog poo and
lawn clippings dumped in the stormwater system and so on to the wetlands and
reef. One of the mantras invoked by those in power is; if people understand and
love a place they will change their behaviour to protect it - but it is a myth.
Penny
gave an example of the behaviours that have to be understood before the target
people can be persuaded to adopt behaviour that addresses a problem. In the US
a public park, which is home to a herd of rare deer, was a favourite walking
spot for dogs off the leash. These then chased the deer. Neither notices asking
for dogs to be kept on the leash, fines for having dogs off leash or even bans
on dogs worked. When asked, the dog owners said the dogs deserve to be off the
leash and that was their owners’ priority in coming there. So, the signs were
changed to warn that dogs off leash sometimes never returned - and that worked.
So,
in Townsville they researched how to modify the use of water on lawns. This was
achieved by finding more effective watering systems on the hard clay soils,
promoting the use of grass species more suitable to the climate (for example Zoysia,
a grass native to Australia and eastern Asia). This was done by painstaking
research to identify what people knew and what were the myths they subscribed
to and then painstaking education to demonstrate how they could change their
behaviour to the advantage of all. It all went well until resistance, by a
vocal minority, grew to a Council plan to reduce the allowed water allocation
in tandem with the voluntary adoption measures that were reducing water use. Now
Townsville is on level 3 water restrictions (100 litres a day, two days a week,
before 9.00am after 4.00pm) with on-the-spot fines of $365 a day for
non-compliance.
In conclusion Penny pointed out that behaviour
change techniques are powerful and are being used for all sorts of purposes
around the world. These are not necessarily for the good of the target
population but as a way of controlling and, in some cases, shifting blame back
to the population, when the political will to implement change becomes too
hard. Doesn’t that sound familiar!
(Report by Michael Jefferies)
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