Not going to lie, before starting this excitement, I was sceptical that any social campaign (innovation/marketing/media) could have a profound effect on environmental outcomes or even any outcomes for that matter. Perhaps my hasty judgment reflected my contempt for the hoards of organisations that live in an echo chamber of promoting awareness. They are often well-intentioned but always come off with a sort-of clout-chasing aura. Perhaps you, the reader also has a sceptical outlook on these campaigns. The truth is, we are (or at least I am) wrong. To find evidence that such campaigns have the potential to produce profound outcomes, one does not need to look any further than 2014.
Its 2014, you’re scrolling down your newsfeed on Facebook while blasting Fancy by Iggy Azalea through your ear pods and you see another one of those f*cking ALS Ice Bucket Challenges. Well as it turns out this campaign raised $115,000,000 for ALS research in 8 weeks. In fact, this campaign led to some of the greatest breakthroughs in finding a cure for ALS. So, there is no question that these campaigns can be effective, but what about with respect to environmental outcomes?
Campaigns with respect to the environment often seem a bit harder to pull off than something like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It can often feel like these campaigns are attacking you for simply not being well-read enough on the subject. Looking back on my past experiences, I vaguely remember a group of boys in my high school (you know the type; young, loud and aggressive). They watched an agricultural documentary called Earthlings, a harrowing film with distressing depictions of animal suffering and then something unexpected happened. Those boys all became vegan soon after. Since livestock emissions directly account for 10% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, I would argue that this innovative media campaign could have greater potential and effectiveness, if it were to receive greater exposure.
Although positive environmental outcomes can be achieved through these campaigns. It would also be foolish to ignore the potential these campaigns have to produce negative outcomes as well (get your tinfoil hats on)! George Monbiot, an environmental and political activist from the prestigious University of Oxford suggests that one of the most brilliant and most pervasive campaigns of all time was crafted by brilliant advertisers and marketers for some of the world’s biggest companies. 100 companies in the world are directly responsible for 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Monbiot states that some of these companies have crafted the brilliant ideological campaign we know as ‘consumerism’.
The campaign is so familiar and pervasive we can’t even detect it. This allowed large conglomerates to shift the responsibility to us, the consumers! It gives an illusion that our individual choices and actions have profound effects on the environment. It is so effective that I, myself never use the heating in winter at home (just put on more clothes) in order to reduce my carbon footprint. The reality is we may not have a choice, these monopolies will not stop accelerating production and will lead us right into ecocide. This is reflected in companies like Exxon which are investing more into oil and gas than ever, despite making misleading impressions that they are switching to renewable energy and telling us it is also our responsibility to the same.
So, my initial judgement was wrong! Innovative social media/marketing campaigns can have very profound outcomes on the environment (positive or negative) and can influence the actions of people like you and me. These initiatives are more difficult to implement in wastewater treatment than you’d expect. There are no cute farm animals to be saved. This time it really is our responsibility as the consumers to know how much water we consume, ways to alleviate the stress on our wastewater treatment facilities and to drop the stigma associated with recycled water. This is why I believe Prof AG’s ‘How to eat yourself out of a water shortage’ TEDx Talk lays down some groundwork/fundamentals for a potentially great initiative that can advance the agenda of wastewater treatment. It doesn’t rely on cute farm animals and it has all the hallmarks of a great campaign. It is humorous, informative, doesn’t guilt trip the audience and the listener leaves with something that they hadn’t considered before. It is transformative and could be extremely effective with greater exposure.
Since 70% of potable water in the world is used for agriculture, Professor Ghadouani’s approach can affect the agenda of wastewater treatment locally, nationally, but perhaps not internationally. Locally and nationally, Australians have the privilege to be more conscious of their consumption. A family shopping in the local Woolworths, when equipped with the knowledge from Professor Ghadouani’s talk can make the conscientious decision to buy certain products or ingredients or whether to just stop buying unnecessary products altogether. This is also the case for some of the other developed countries. However, in developing countries, it is difficult to pick and choose when you’re scraping by on the skin of your teeth. Nevertheless, in developed countries like Australia, when families are equipped with such knowledge of which products consumer more water in their production and have the freedom to consider other alternatives, it can alleviate the stress on water treatment plants locally and also nationally.
This approach will correspond with SDG #6: clean water and sanitation and SDG #9: industry, innovation and infrastructure. By alleviating the stress on our water treatment facilities and infrastructure, it becomes easier to provide access to clean water and sanitation for more Australians. This will also reduce the maintenance cost of our infrastructure. It also corresponds to both SDG #13: climate action and SDG #12: responsible production and consumption. By equipping Australians with this information, we can make informed decisions with our consumption. As agriculture is both a large player in both greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater, our decisions as consumers can drive climate action.
SOURCES:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/09/polluters-climate-crisis-fossil-fuel
The Sh*tty Little Blue Planet 