Sink plugs matters more than awareness of water shortage

The sign above the washing-up area boldly declares that "Every drop counts”. A message we've all been reminded of this summer through news reports of wildfires and dried-up rivers.

The notice follows up with positive encouragement: take short, refreshing showers, and don't leave the water running while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes.

Sensibly put. Constructive.

Unfortunately, this otherwise excellent campsite wasn't doing much to support the behaviours it was encouraging:

• The showers didn’t switch off automatically. They kept running until you – or someone else – turned them off, and you were free to use as much hot water as you wished.

Why not bring back the old-fashioned campsite showers, where you pay for every minute of hot water you use? And, of course, install a shower button that automatically shuts the water off after a certain, short, time.

• The same applied to the washbasins. The message "Don't leave the water running" carries less weight when, well, the water keeps running until someone manually turns it off.

• Then there were the sinks in the washing-up area, none of which had sink plugs. This inevitably lead to washing dishes under running water. Despite everyone knowing that every drop counts.

To be fair, I did spot a couple of campers who seemed to take the "every drop counts" message very seriously, as they neither flushed nor washed their hands after using the toilets. Whether that was inspired by the notice or simply long-established habits remains unclear however...

Same message, better system

It's perfectly understandable that a lovely four-star campsite wants to offer its guests generous amounts of perfectly drinkable water and instead rely on their guests’ judgement to keep consumption down.

But imagine if the signs instead explained the campsite's water-saving measures using exactly the same message:

Here the water switches off automatically, hot water is regulated, and every sink has a plug – because every drop counts.

I suspect that would raise awareness just as effectively. The difference is that the system itself would do most of the work in encouraging sustainable water use.

Experiences like this are also useful reminders in my own work.

Those of us working to increase awareness around important issues need to challenge organisations more often on how easy it actually is for employees to do the right thing.

What are the company's manual taps or missing sink plugs?

How well do the organisation's systems and processes support what is written in internal policies or external guidelines?

Awareness alone is not enough.

It must be easy to do the right thing.

An employee with access to a password manager is unlikely to choose "Summer2026!" as their password. And even a campsite guest who doesn't particularly care will use less water if it switches off automatically.

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