Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter
It is designed to be succinct, to highlight some of the things we are involved with at ech2o and to direct you towards interesting websites about water. We hope you will enjoy it. If you don't wish to receive it any more then it is easy to opt out, but please make a note of our new address details first!
ech2o have moved...
We have moved into new premises in Shoreditch (aka, Silicone Roundabout, the UK’s answer to Silicone Valley). Watch us produce an app. that rewards punters for having a shorter shower… not sure how yet but as you can't move in this area for falling over dot com start-up companies we are sure it will happen soon!
Our new details are: ech2o consultants ltd, 27 Holywell Row, London EC2A 4JB and our new phone number is 020 7183 1908. Web site address and email addresses do, of course, remain the same. As does our commitment to delivering projects on target, within budget, and to the same high quality as we have always done.
Wasting water is weird...
Encouraging a reduction in water consumption from adolescents requires thinking outside of the box. Which is exactly what the US Environmental Protection Agency did when they invented Rip the drip. Rip has a bad haircut wears a vest with shorts, shoes and socks and is very nerdy. He thinks wasting water is cool, but then who wants to be like him?
I ran it past a few school pupils to see what they thought. Ols (17) texted “hahahaaa that is seriously strange! funny in a proper surreal way!” Robert (12) said "I really really like it. He's creepy"
It’s a US site so savings are in gallons but apart from that it’s awesome. Check it out at www.wastingwaterisweird.com
ech2o win an SWIG award for Be Water Aware! in Hackney Schools
We are really pleased to announce that we won first prize in the behaviour change category at the recent inaugural SWIG awards held in the fabulous surroundings of the top floor of City hall with stunning views over the Thames. Be Water Aware! is a workshop we have run with school pupils all over the UK. This particular project was in conjunction with Hackney City Farm as part of their 60 steps to 60% initiative. We worked directly with 2,403 pupils and 120 teachers and estimated that the cumulative saving from pupils and teachers reducing their hot water use at home was 16,751m3 of hot water and 174.5 tonnes of CO2. Read More at the SWIG award page on the ech2o website
Drinking our rivers dry – did Panorama miss the point?
In the current issue of Green Building Magazine Cath critiques the recent Panorama programme arguing that not enough prominence was given to the role that individuals can play in achieving a sustainable level of water use within the UK.
- Read the article on our web site
- See how the McRobie family reduced their water consumption by almost 50%.
Is the 5 minute shower an urban myth?
We first asked this question back in 2009 and more and more research is being done to say that yes it is! The latest one we have seen has been carried out by Unilever and used loggers attached to shower heads to determine the actual time spent in the shower. 2,600 showers by 100 families across 10 days were recorded and the average shower time by those users was 8 minutes. This is lower than our survey of 415 people aged between 7 – 70 where the average shower time was 13 minutes (download the report from our website) but is likely to be more precise because it did not rely on the respondents having to estimate the time they spent in the shower. Although in our survey adolescent girls used the most water, in their study it was boys under 10!
We are now challenging shower users to see if they can reduce their showers down to four minutes using the timers available for free from most water suppliers. We will let you know how we get on. Read an overview of the Unilever’s findings on the Unilever Website
And finally... A Happy 2012 to all
Those of you who have known us for a long time know we are a supporter of Water Aid. Across the world 2.5 billion people do not have somewhere safe, private or hygienic to go to the toilet and so this year (as usual) we bought a family toilet, plus training for a sanitation mason. www.wateraid.org.uk