Delving deeper: Exploring the influence of psycho-social wellness on water conservation behavior

Socio-psychological determinants of Iranian rural households' adoption of water consumption curtailment behaviors

Dealing with a growing population and a shortage of drinking water is a major challenge for politicians and planners. A key factor in ensuring a sustainable water supply is water conservation at the household level, which can increase productivity and save water resources. Therefore, promoting water consumption curtailment behavior will contribute significantly to reducing the global water crisis, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Water consumption curtailment behaviors depend on individuals’ encouragement to choose and adopt voluntary behaviors and cannot be enforced by any political or planning power. In order to encourage water conservation those social and psychological factors should be considered that influence individuals to participate or adopt water consumption curtailment behaviors. Therefore, the study of factors influencing rural households' water consumption curtailment behaviors is of great importance. This study aimed to describe the socio-psychological factors influencing water consumption curtailment behaviors among rural households in southwestern Iran. The extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB) was used as a theoretical framework in this study along with descriptive norms (DN), moral norms (MN), habits, and justification. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that ETPB can explain 35% and 54% of intention and water consumption curtailment behaviors among rural households in Iran. Our findings may assist policymakers in reducing domestic water consumption.

Evaluating connections between personal well-being and adoption of landscape best management practices: An audience segmentation study

Integrated pest management and outdoor water conservation comprise key practices encouraged by nonformal educators who work with the public to address significant issues related to water quality and availability. Disconnects among diverse audiences and educational programs pose challenges in achieving the goals of these types of programs. To discern a potential nonformal educational programming strategy, we conducted audience segmentation research incorporating residential environmental landscape best management practices and compared resulting subgroups' characteristics. We explored this paradigm through the context of Extension education and used a nationally-distributed electronic survey instrument to measure well-being and landscape management perceptions and practices in the United States. We collected 2601 complete survey responses and employed cluster analysis to divide the respondents into homogenous subgroups, followed by analysis of variance and chi-square analyses to identify differences among the subgroups. The group that indicated the highest level of engagement with water conservation and IPM practices also had significantly higher well-being, demonstrating the potential to align IPM education with more commonly promoted conservation practices. Membership in the highest IPM and water conservation group was related to several socio-demographic characteristics, including age, homeownership, and homeowners' association membership. This group was also most likely to engage with educational programs. Understanding these indicators of engagement in landscape best management practices and nonformal education, along with higher well-being, may be useful in determining target audiences and potential engagement with nonformal education programs.

System dynamics evaluation of household water use behavior and associated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental costs: A case study of Taipei city

Taiwan is an island surrounded by sea and only 19 % of its freshwater usage is for domestic applications. A system dynamic model was developed to investigate interactions between household water use behaviors (toilet flushing, clothes washing, bathing/showering, and cleaning) and associated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental costs. Six hundred and fifty face-to-face interviews were conducted in 12 districts of Taipei. The results showed that the respondents' individual attributes were not significantly related to water use behaviors. The highest volume of water was used for cleaning (27.7 %), followed by clothes washing (26.2 %), bathing/showering (26.1 %), and toilet flushing (20.0 %). Five water management scenarios with 5 %-20 % reductions in water volume from different water use behaviors were simulated. The maximum reduction in water use (6.27 t) was found in the fifth scenario (20 % reduction), which reflected the priority the respondents gave to save water if its price increased. 27.2 % of respondents had water saving appliances; 20.5 % and 16.4 % of the appliances were toilets and shower heads, respectively. The environmental cost of GHG emissions associated with water use behavior was US$0.001/t, causing an 8% increase in water price. A better understanding of household water use behaviors is needed to develop bottom-up strategies or measures for sustainable water management. Water saving measures or strategies would lead to targets being met in a short time.