Environmental behaviour change

I found a great and simple example of environmental behaviour change at work in a Queensland programme called 'Target 140', which stems from chronic water shortage issues in northern Australia. On the supply side the problems are threefold. First, there’s generally not enough rain. Second, when it does come it’s highly erratic with often several seasons passing without rain and then it being dumped down in a couple of days. Third, there’s traditionally been little or no coordination between local water agencies to the extent that there’s a critical absence of hard and soft infrastructure to share water supply (which in a tropical and highly localised weather system is absolutely critical).

Finally, on the demand side there have been weak incentives to bear down on consumption with fixed water rates and lack of price variability even when capacity becomes critical. Together these factors resulted in dam water levels in South-East Queensland falling to 5% of capacity by 2006. In comes Target 140, which is run by a new inter-governmental water commission agency. So what makes it successful as a behaviour change campaign? In my view:

• The establishment of a clear target (of getting consumption down to 140 litres of water per person per day) provides focus for individual attainment and catalyses on the human competitive spirit
  
  
• The provision of simple information and guidance about how to make adaptations in daily work and personal routines enables people to switch to new or adaptive forms of behaviour



• Real time data on dam water levels drives both a sense of urgency and communality in driving down consumption



• Rebates for purchasing water-saving devices address inertia in investing in environmental technology that have medium to long term payoffs



• Fines for excess use (with clearly defined levels) codify what the undesired behaviour is and provide an active disincentive against it



• People can trade off following the ‘pro-social’ behaviour (e.g. with household signs identifying you as a user of rainwater capture)
  

Since the Target 140 campaign was established average water consumption has fallen over 40%. Very impressive considering the cost to government was negligible (indeed the cost-benefit ratios must be several thousand times the equivalent for infrastructure investment to achieve the same outcome).

It makes me reflect on my own foray into the behaviour change literature in writing the discussion paper 'Achieving Culture Change: a Policy Framework'. I think one of things I failed to adequately convey is that behaviour change doesn’t necessarily require incredibly sophisticated or involved programmes. Simple measures based around a robust understanding of human motivations work. What it does require though is being politically bold when times demand. Target 140 is a good such example.