The Water Values

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Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) Assistant Professor Shahzeen, or “Shaz”, Attari, guides us in understanding the state of research into human behavior and resource use, specifically in this episode, water use. She walks us through the existing research, identifies new areas of research and helps us understand why we think the way we do about water. She relates some fascinating research results, especially in the area of curtailment versus efficiency actions and our own choices with respect to each. Don’t miss this great episode of The Water Values Podcast!

In this session, you’ll learn about: 

• How a lot of our water research is based on a 16 year old study of residential water use
• Why water use is understudied in the United States
• How people perceive their own water consumption
• How people perceive the most effective thing that they themselves can do to conserve water
• How people perceive the most effective thing that others can do to conserve water
• Curtailment actions and efficiency actions and their place in water behavior
• Why people underestimate the amount of water they use
• How the volume of water used affects our estimates of use
• The psychological issues with water recycling and reuse
• The demographics of understanding water use
• Water intensity of certain foods and products and whether people understanding the water intensity will impact consumption
• Shaz’s thoughts on whether the state of research supports real-time water pricing
• Gamification and its uses in water education

Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: 

• Shaz’s bio on the Indiana University SPEA website
• Shaz’s article Perceptions of water use published in PNAS (includes option to download .pdf of article)
• Residential End Uses of Water, Peter Mayer and William DeOreo
• Basic Water Requirements for Human Activities: Meeting Basic Needs, Peter Gleick
• Press release on Shaz’s Don’t Rush to Flush article in the Journal of Environmental Psychology
• The Psychology of Water Reclamation and Reuse, Rozin, et al
• Political ideology affects energy-efficiency attitudes and choices, Gromet, et al, published in PNAS (includes option to download .pdf of article)
• Nonprice incentives and energy conservation, Omar Asensio and Magali Delmas, published in PNAS (includes option to download .pdf of article)
• Wikipedia page for Robert Cialdini
• Decision Center for a Desert City at Arizona State University
• Elke Weber bio page on Columbia University website
• Link to The Water Values Podcast 034: A Smarter Way to Deliver Water with Peter Yolles

Transcript

Click here to download the Transcript for Session 65 of The Water Values Podcast.

 Thank You!

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