Water Conservation Education Campaign Final Document

Water Conservation

Educational Campaign

Emily St Onge, Madeline Madison,

Gretel O’Donnell, and Akanksha Khanna

POLS 255.01 Activism Project

December 5, 2016

Problem

Beloit College’s current average shower time is three minutes higher than the

national average. Water conservation is a cause that many students know little about

and there are little to no reminders on campus to stay conscious of one's water use. To

promote sustainable living there should be an educational campaign to fill this gap.

Original Goals

Houses: Our main aim was to measure the water flow of showerheads in Art House

and Feminist Collective and replace their showerheads with low-flow showerheads.

That included contacting the physical plant about the water use of the special interest

houses and measuring the water flow rates of the showers.

The members of these special interest houses were very cooperative with the project.

Low-Flow Showerheads: The reason for using low-flow showerheads is that they are

environmentally friendly and water efficient, which will benefit a lot of people. This way

they would be able to save more water while showering and the college would be able

to save money on their water bills.

Coordination With Faculty: In order to get the water-efficient shower heads, our aim

was to reach out to Funding Board and request for money for showerheads. We also

reached out to physical plant for water bills for Art House and Feminist Collective to

analyze how much money is spent yearly on their water bill.

Our other goal was to coordinate with physical plant and provide the framework to

replace showerheads in other residence halls in the future.

Modified Goals And Strategies

Attention on Awareness of Water Conservation: After getting informed by Physical

Plant that most of the showerheads on campus were already low flow, we modified the

project toward educating and raising awareness of water conservation to current

students of Beloit College especially on saving water while showering.

Posters And Surveys: We tried to spread this awareness through posters and by

sending two surveys to current college students. We used surveys to see how much the

students are aware of low-flow showerheads and water conservation see the outreach

of the posters, if they have read or payed attention to the tips that are mentioned on

posters. Through surveys, the student body has also been informed about the low-flow

showerheads that are already installed on campus.

Challenges

Throughout our project we faced some challenges. However, through flexibility and

reevaluation we were able to overcome them.

Challenges we faced included:

● Changing our goals

○ Our original goal of replacing the shower heads to low flow was not

applicable to Beloit College. Once we tested and calculate the flow of

beloit’s showerheads we found that Beloit already had low flow shower

heads. We had to completely change our project and goals. We had to

make a new schedule and come up with new evaluation methods. Our

project became an educational campaign.

● Staying organized

○ After we changed the design of our project we found it hard to keep

everything organized. We had a lot to do in for our project and had to stay

on task in order to achieve everything. It was challenging to do this but

once we made ourselves a realistic calender we were able to stay on task

and hold ourselves accountable. We had to create and distribute the

posters in a timely manner and give ourselves enough time to receive and

graph the data received from the surveys we made which would ultimately

give us our conclusion.

● Gaining an audience

○ At the start of our educational campaign it was difficult to get support from

our student body. We had to work really hard to get people to take our

surveys and to actually care about what we were advocating for. In the

end through putting our survey on stuboard, on facebook, and through

word of mouth we were able to gain participants. Although we got a

decent number it was not the huge amount that we would have ideally

liked. When putting up the shower posters that we made we had to make

sure that we put them up in all the on campus bathrooms with showers.

● Finding ways to measure our success

○ We were originally going to measure our success based on if we were

able to put in low flow showerheads or not. If we were, it would be have

been a success and if we were not then it wouldn’t have been a success.

Due to the change in project structure, we had to find a new assessment

method. We knew that we wanted to educate students but we weren't

initially sure how to measure that. We decided on a survey with questions

regarding water conservation specifically related to showering. In order to

test if our posters that we created actually made a difference we had to

administer a follow up survey. The data received from the follow up survey

was compared to the data received from the initial survey. This

comparison allowed us to measure our success and see if we were

actually able to educate students on the Beloit College campus about

water conservation in relation to showering.

Accomplishments

Although it is difficult to quantitatively assess if our education campaign will

cause Beloit College students to reduce the lengths of their showers, we have

successfully increased the student body’s knowledge of the college’s low-flow

showerheads, their water use through showering, and ways to reduce their water and

energy use.

Our biggest success in this project was the educational posters. We were able to

create the posters in a timely manner and distribute them widely throughout the

residential side of the Beloit College campus. We posted them near the bathrooms in

the residential buildings in order to increase the likelihood that those who read it would

remember the information and tips next time they took a shower. A copy of the poster

and the locations where the posters were hung can be found in Appendix B.

On those posters, we provided three tips for saving more water that an individual

could put to action immediately. In order to test the effectiveness of these tips, we

conducted a small case study. We had three of our friends record the duration of their

normal showers for a week, then record the duration of their showers while they

implemented the water saving tips. The results were positive, showing that their water

usage and energy usage decreased when they implemented the tips. Graphs of this

data can be found in Appendix F.

A third accomplishment of our project was our use of surveys. We conducted two

surveys: one before we distributed the posters and one afterwards. The first survey

allowed us to gauge the student body’s general knowledge of low-flow showerheads

and their water usage, as well as determine the average shower length of a Beloit

College student. A copy of the first survey and its results can be found in Appendix A.

The second survey was conducted after the posters were put up. With this survey we

were able to see if students were reading the posters and if they were gaining any

information from them. There were some similar questions from the first survey in the

second survey in order to track learning. These results were also positive. A higher

percentage of students got the answers correctly after the posters were distributed than

before. A copy of the second survey and its results can be found in Appendix C.

Advice for the Future

One thing this project suffered from was not having enough preliminary research.

It wasn’t until mid-October that we found out the showerheads at Beloit College were

being replaced with low-flow heads as they break. If we had done the research and

realized this earlier then we could have gotten more done with the educational

campaign. Another plus to having more preliminary research is to get to know your

audience. While we did have a good understanding of our audience it was hard to have

an engaged audience.

For a project like this it is very important to have an engaged audience so we can

know how to advertise to that audience. On a campus with twelve hundred plus

students the responses we got on the surveys were below one hundred. So if we had

done a better job of working to engage and broaden our audience then we could have

measured our success on a greater scale.

For this project to continue more sources of advertisement should be

implemented, more people should be talking about water conservation, and posters

should be visible in every bathroom with a shower. We reached a good number of

students, but all students should be aware of water conservation and care about it too

for there to be a noticeable difference in water conservation on the Beloit College

campus.

Appendices

Appendix A: Water Conservation Questions and Results

Appendix B: Residential Bathroom Posters

Where to Hang Posters

● Gretel: Art House, Peet, Bushnell, Blaisdell, Russian House

● Maddie: Mauer, Aldrich, Moore Townhouses, Wood, Haven

● Emily: Clary apartments, Emerson apartments, Performing Arts House, Feminist

Collective, Spanish House, AST, 609, 815, Music House, TKE, Anthro House,

Kappa, Theta, Saga, OEC, Phi Psi

● Akansha: Brannon, Chapin, Whitney, Porter, 840

Hang them in bathrooms, in the stalls is the best spot if possible. In places like 815 and

Emerson where they have their own bathrooms, just put them in the hallways.

Appendix C: Follow Up Survey Questions and Results

Appendix D: Emails with Physical Plant

To: Physical Plant Sept 27

From: Gretel O’Donnell

Hello,

I am Gretel O'Donnell a current student in Pablo Toral's Global Political Ecology

course and this semester I am working with three other students on an activism project.

Our projects focus is on water conservation, specifically on making shower heads

more efficient. While this project is working on decreasing water use it is also working

on decreasing the water bill. So to make sure this project is both environmentally and

economically efficient we were hoping to view a copy of past water bills, for two college

owed special interest houses.

These houses are Art House at 742 Church st. and Feminist Collective at 732 Church

st.

Please let us know if the water bills are available to view for both of these houses. We

really appreciate all and any information you have to offer us!

Best,

Gretel O’Donnell

To: Gretel O’Donnell Sept 27

From: Physical Plant

Yes, I have these bills available. We can arrange this in 2 ways. If you want to only

view a couple months, I can scan them to you. If you want to see more than that,

please come to see me in the Facilities office on the 1st floor of the Smith building. I

can allow you to look at what you need. Let me know a time that will work for you. I am

available Monday through Friday 7am until 3pm. I will be out this Friday and next

Monday, October 3.



A couple months would be great. Thanks you!



I just received the August usage billing. I will send these along with the July billing. Will

this give you the info you need since it will be lesser usage because of summer months.



That is something I did not consider!

Could I come in on Tuesday at 9 am to look at some bills from last school year?



Tuesday at 9 works for me. See you then.

To: Gretel O’Donnell Oct

14


Hi Gretel,

If you speak with Leeann in our office she should be able to get you water meter

information for the houses. We have been using 1.5 gpm shower heads for the last

three years when they were broken and in need of replacement. Prior to that we had

been purchasing 2.0 gpm heads for replacing bad ones. Let me know if we can help.

Thanks

Bruce

Appendix E: Emails with the Sustainability Office Coordinator Lindsay Chapman

To: Sustainability Office Coordinator Sept 29

From: Madeline Madison

Hi Lindsay

My name is Madeline Madison and I am a current student in Pablo Toral's Global

Political Ecology course and this semester I am working with three other students on

an activism project.

Our projects focus is on water conservation, specifically on making shower heads

more efficient. We will be replacing the shower heads in special interest houses on

the Beloit Campus with low flow shower heads.

We would like to meet with you to discuss water conservation on Beloit's campus.

We would greatly appreciate any advice you have for us. If you could let us know

when you are available to meet that would be awesome!

Thank you so much

To: Madeline Madison Sept 29

From: Sustainability Office Coordinator

Hi Madeline,

I'm happy to meet with you three or any combination thereof. If at all possible, can we

meet next week? I am under a few grant deadlines and need any open time

tomorrow to finalize some text. You can see my availability in the youcanbook.me link

below my signature. To start off with, have you tested any of the showerheads? If

you turn on the faucets and capture the amount of water that comes out in 1 minute,

http://youcanbook.me/

you can get a general sense of the gallons per minute. You will be able to compare

these to WaterSense standards. You might test different floors/houses/apartments to

see if there are different shower heads and their flow.

looking forward to it,

To: Sustainability Office Coordinator Sept 30

From: Madeline Madison

Hi Lindsey

Thank you so much for your quick and enthusiastic response! We have decided to

test the shower heads before we meet with you in order to present you with some

clear data. Due to this we will be setting up a meeting with you through your book now

after fall break.

Thanks

To: Madeline Madison Sept 30


sounds like a good plan. Good luck with your testing.

To: Sustainability Office Coordinator Nov 18

From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Lindsay,

For our sustainability project in Pablo's Political Global Ecology class, my group is

putting up posters educating the student body on the water use of the low-flow

showerheads on campus and a few tips on how to save even more water while

showering.

Are you willing to be the point of contact or BTYB for the posters? I've attached the

poster below. We haven't printed the posters yet, so any feedback on the poster

design or its information is welcome.

Thank you

To: Emily St.Onge Nov 21


Hi Emily,

I am willing to be the BTYB, as long as the below edits are made. You can say

"BTYB Office of Sustainability"

● I get that you are trying to be "steamy or foggy" with the font, but it is hard to

read, and you want students to get hooked right away, not have to struggle

to read it. I suggest a clearer font. Keep the foggy background, but make

your font less blurry.

● There's an extra space on the first fact, between "beloit" and "student"

● I had to read through the poster a couple of times to understand how you got

the 9 gallons of water savings, so I'd suggest rephrasing it to say, "Reducing

shower time time 5 minutes could save up to 9 gallons of water"

● For the tips section, I'd suggest including other reasons why they should take

on these tips. The first tip is fine as is. Second tip: Try not to shower every

day (need a space between "every" and "day") Add something about "your

skin will thank you for it" or "your skin needs its natural oils and soaps

deplete skin of these oils." Tip 3: we consume more natural gas (or energy)

to heat up unnecessarily hot water.

You should also know that all of the residential spaces on campus have hot water

controls that only allow the water temperature to get up to 120 degrees. However,

this won't be the case when students return home for the holidays or live on their own

after graduating.

Lastly, I'm sure you have thought about this, but I'd suggest putting these up in

bathroom stalls next to showers. Skip the bulletin boards around campus because

people will forget your facts by the time they get back to their dorms. See if you can

post them in shower stalls.

overall, great poster and I like the message. Just a few tweaks to make it perfect.

thanks

To: Sustainability Office Coordinator Nov 29

From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Lindsay,

We made the changes to our posters. Thank you again for being the BTYB for them. I

attached the new poster to this email so you can see it.

We're going to put the posters in all the residence halls and special interest houses. I

agree with you on skipping the academic side. It just makes more sense to put them

in the bathrooms.

Thanks again



Hi Emily,

these look great! Well done to you and your team

Appendix F: Emails with Professor Pablo Toral

To: Pablo Toral Nov 5

From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Pablo,

For our activism project, we created a short quiz/survey to get people thinking about

water conservation with showers and to gauge what they know. Would you be willing

to send it out to all or your students? I think people may be more inclined to take it if

someone directly emails them about it.

Thanks


From: Emily St.Onge

Hey again,

I realized two seconds after I sent that that I did not include the link to the survey.

Here is the link: https://goo.gl/forms/GlZOI1thl1BxiQsq2

Sorry for the multiple emails!


From: Pablo Toral

Dear Emily,

I am delighted to send it out. Could you please share the text that you would like me

to include in the body of the email as well as the text to include in the subject line?

Thanks


From: Pablo Toral

Hi again,

I forgot to tell you in my previous email that people are more likely to participate in a

survey if it is quick and simple. This means that allowing them to click on boxes will be

more appealing than filling in text. There are a few text boxes that you could easily be

"clickable".


From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Pablo,

Here's what I'd like you to say:

Subject: How Much Do YOU Know About Showering?

The survey is a short quiz to test people's knowledge on water and energy use from

showering. It should take less than 5 minutes to do. We will get a more accurate

picture of Beloit college students and their showering habits if we can get as many

people as possible to take it! There's only two fill in answers, all the rest are multiple

choice.

Thanks again


From: Pablo Toral

Hi, Emily,

I just sent it out. Please let me know if you don't see it.

I would have made sure to let students know in the subject line that you are asking

them to do a survey. Otherwise they will not know what the email is about. I would

also have provided a bit of background on the questionnaire. People like to know why

they are asked to provide their feedback and they are more likely to oblige if they

agree with the cause and can help someone.

Please keep that in mind for the future.

Thanks

To: Pablo Toral Dec 1

From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Pablo,

My group has made a follow-up survey to gauge the reach of the posters we put up

earlier this week. Can you post it on stuboard Friday and Saturday for us?

Subject: Responses Needed: What Do YOU Think About Those SOS Posters

Everywhere?

Description: The Water Conservation Coalition group of POLS 255 wants your

feedback on the posters we recently put up. If you've seen the SOS: Save Our

Showers posters in your or your friend's residence hall this week, please take a

moment to fill out this survey about them.

Survey Link: https://goo.gl/forms/WwoVVb7JJCYjett62

Thanks

To: Emily St.Onge Dec 1

From: Pablo Toral

Hi, Emily,

I am delighted to do that. I have a quick question. Could you let me know whether

when I send something out it gets to students the very same day? Or is there a delay?

That will determine when I need to send it.

Please advice.

Thanks


From: Emily St.Onge

There may be a slight delay. I looked back to when you posted on stuboard about the

first survey. You emailed me on Nov. 5th confirming you would post it, and the

stuboard message went out Nov. 6th. They do send out two every weekday, so it's

possible that if you send it early enough in the day, it will be sent out the same day.

Thanks


From: Pablo Toral

Thanks, Emily,

I'll send it the day before just to be on the safe side. What do you think?


From: Emily St.Onge

I think that should be just fine!


From: Pablo Toral

Hi, Emily,

I sent out the first announcement this morning. Please let me know if it works

according to plans. I will send another one tomorrow morning.

Thanks


From: Emily St.Onge

Hey Pablo,

It worked! It's in the stuboard today.

Thanks again!


From: Pablo Toral

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know.

I'll send out another one tomorrow or maybe tonight.

Appendix G: Stuboard Announcement

Appendix F: Case Study Data

Appendix H: Sources

● "5 Great Water Conservation Organizations to Donate to This Holiday Season."

The Seametrics Blog RSS. Accessed October 02, 2016.

http://www.seametrics.com/blog/water-conservation-holiday/.

● Alliance for Water Efficiency. “Residential Shower and Bath Introduction.” 2016.

http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/Residential_Shower_Introduction.aspx.

● Beloit College. “Admissions: Fast Facts.” 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016.

https://www.beloit.edu/prospective/fastfacts/.

● "Boston College." Water. Accessed September 29, 2016.

https://www.bc.edu/offices/sustainability/campus-initiatives/water.html.

● Bushak, Lecia. “A Brief History of Bathing.” The Grapevine (Medical Daily),

December 11, 2015. http://www.medicaldaily.com/brief-history-bathing-

importance-hygiene-ancient-romes-sophisticated-showers-modern-364826.

● Consumer Reports. “Showerhead Buying Guide.” 2016. Accessed October 20,

2016. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/showerheads/buying-guide.htm.

● Home Depot Product Authority. “Buying Guide for Different Types of Water

Heaters at the Home Depot.” 2016. Accessed October 19, 2016.

http://www.homedepot.com/c/water_heater_buying_guide_HT_BG_PL.

● Mitchell, Heidi. “Burning Question: What Is the Best Water Temperature for Your

Bath or Shower?” The Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal), January 4,

2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/burning-question-what-is-the-best-water-

temperature-for-your-bath-or-shower-1451931152.

https://www.beloit.edu/prospective/fastfacts/

● Pays to Live Green. “Shower Water and Energy Use Calculator.” January 20,

2009. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.paystolivegreen.com/shower-

water-and-energy-use-calculator/.

● Perlman, Howard. “Water Questions & Answers: How Much Water Does the

Average Person Use at Home Per Day?” May 2, 2016. Accessed October 19,

2016. http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html.

● U.S. Department of Energy. “Reduce Hot Water Use for Energy Savings.”

Accessed October 19, 2016. http://energy.gov/energysaver/reduce-hot-water-

use-energy-savings.

● U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Indoor Water Use in the United States.”

2016. Accessed October 20, 2016.

https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/indoor.html.

● Macy, Peter P., and William O. Maddaus. "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Conservation

Programs."Journal

● (American Water Works Association) 81, no. 3 (1989): 43-47.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41292398.

● Hauschild, Bruce. "Do “Low-flow” Shower Heads Really Save Money?"

Neo.ne.gov. July 2003.

● "Cost of Water - Fcwa.org." Accessed October 19, 2016.

https://www.fcwa.org/story_of_water/html/costs.htm.

● Bruce Hamilton, e-mail to author, October 14, 2016.

● Christine Todd Whitman, “Cases in Water Conservation: How Efficiency

Programs Help

● Water Utilities Save Water and Avoid Costs,” EPA United States Environmental

Protection Agency, accessed October 19, 2016

https://www3.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/indoor.html

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41292398

https://www.fcwa.org/story_of_water/html/costs.htm

Water Conservation Education Campaign Final Document

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