With 9 billion people predicted to inhabit our planet by 2050, we all need to make an effort to manage our resources more sustainably. Failure to do so means we will run out of drinking water, not to mention other scarce resources. But how do we change behaviour?

I spent most of last week at a conference pondering this issue. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment said water meters were an essential part of the solution. Another speaker suggested an awareness-raising campaign – relying on the theory that if everyone only knew how bad they were, they’d behave differently.

They’re both right – we need a range of tools to change behaviour, not just one.

Over the past decade we have seen falling rates for smoking, drink-driving and skin cancer. This has been the result of a mix of tactics, including the justice system, communications and products (think nicotine gum, dial-a-driver, light beer and sunscreen which have all made it easier to change our behaviour).

Social marketers refer to this as the ‘social marketing toolbox’. Social marketing acknowledges that changing human behaviour is complex and we require many reminders and lots of help to change.

The slip, slop, slap campaign is a great example of the range of social marketing tools that have been used to encourage people to be sun-smart. Consider the following (and this isn’t a complete list!):
• Products - sunscreen, sunhats, wraps
• Price – messages that melanoma is too high a price to pay
• Promotion – reminders to slip, slop, slap with weather reports over the summer period
• Policy - compulsory sunhats in schools
• Partnerships – between Government and not-for-profits who have combined resources to make an enormous, busy campaign

We need to follow the same approach when designing a campaign to encourage sensible water use. It should probably include water meters, communications to encourage us to conserve water, water limits in peak times, partnerships and lots of compost, ‘dripper’ garden pipes and a ban on sprinklers to conserve water in our gardens.