Title: Psychology's contribution to water conservation: barriers and success stories

Authors: Thuy-Vy H. Phan; Le Xuan Hy

Addresses: Seattle University, 901 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122, USA ' Seattle University, 901 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122, USA

Abstract: Psychologists only started to contribute to the topic of water conservation in the last 15 years by diagnosing barriers, including their own ignorance and neglect of the issue. They have identified both the deeply-rooted mentality and the numerous psychological barriers to conservation. This paper reviews successful efforts for water conservation, both in the lab and in the field. The Target 140 Campaign in Brisbane, Australia was able to reduce water consumption from more than 300 litres to a mere 140 litres per person per day, using only voluntary means and maintained that result for years after the end of the campaign. Other successful field projects were in Jordan, Australia and the USA.

Keywords: water conservation; sustainable behaviour; water consumption; conservation psychology; water crises; water scarcity; freshwater; barriers; success stories; contribution; psychology.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2017.088765

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2017 Vol.18 No.3/4, pp.365 - 376

Received: 29 Nov 2016
Accepted: 19 Jul 2017
Published online: 17 Dec 2017 *

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