Unknown Oct 8, 2005 17:15 pm

Brenda:

While not directly relevant, you might want to take a look at the work of Glen Pleasance from Durham Region in Ontario, Canada on outdoor water efficiency. Glen has clearly demonstrated the utility of one-on-one conversations in dramatically reducing water usage. Not only have his approaches substantially changed outdoor water use behavior, they have also been far more cost effective than traditional media campaigns and they have generated water use reductions that have now been sustained for several years (initial reductions were 32% and I believe they have been sustained at the level of 25-26% without further follow-up. These numbers are based on unobtrusive measures). You will find links to Glen's work right beside his picture on the main page of the FSB website. The other issue in my mind has to do with likelihood of people attending workshops versus face-to-face meetings. Anyone who attends a workshop is likely to be more motivated than someone who doesn't. Any fair evaluation would need to tease out the impact of motivation from the presentation of the workshops itself. Finally, take a look at the results from the energy efficiency workshop that was hosted by Scott Geller and is described in chapter one of my book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior. HTH.

Best,
Doug Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Ph.D.

McKenzie-Mohr Associates
(506) 455 5061 voice/pager
(506) 455 0550
fax [email protected]
http://www.cbsm.com