Monday, June 21, 2010

Changing Consumer Behavior One Water Bottle at a Time

Bottled water and oil - the Gulf of Mexico draws a parallel.

From an article by John Edson for Fast Company:


"....It's especially poignant to think about this relationship between oil and water in this post-Gulf-Coast-oil-disaster moment.
Water is good. Water is bad.
Ads from Evian and Brita
While we all know this, bottled water is super-convenient. It's not that we want to harm the planet, or think that our immediate need or ongoing healthy habits (water kicks soda's butt for hydration, right?) are more important. It's just that we're busy, and the bottled water is there--and we promise ourselves that we'll recycle the empties.
The fact is that tap water in my country (and probably yours if you're reading this) is super duper. If we only had a way to open the tap, grab a slug of it, put it in our pocket and dispense it at will, we'd have the convenient water that we need accessible when we want it. Fast Company did a fantastic piece about the bottled water industry here, pointing to just how this became such a thriving entity. 
Design--or design thinking, if you prefer--is tackling this problem, if not the impending problem of global drinking water shortage, in a number of inspiring ways that aim to start with the need, provide alternatives, and empower behavior change in us all......." 

No comments:

Post a Comment