SACRAMENTO–The Regional Water Authority (RWA) and local water providers are launching a new outreach campaign to encourage people to “Rethink Your Yard” and to make water efficiency a way of life.
The campaign features people from throughout the Sacramento region who have embraced a water-wise lifestyle and decided to make permanent, long-term changes in the way they use water every day.
“For many people, the drought gave them an opportunity to rethink the way they view and use their landscape and to consider whether it’s time for a change,” said RWA Water Efficiency Program Manager Amy Talbot. “This campaign is all about telling their story—they changes they made, why they did it and the benefits that go way beyond saving water—and encouraging others to do the same.”
The “Rethink Your Yard” campaign, which will appear on billboards, online and in radio advertising during the summer, features:
- An 88-year old retired teacher in Sacramento who removed nearly 10,000 square feet of lawn himself using a pitchfork and other tools and then enlisted his family to help replace it with a beautiful low-water use landscape.
- A Sacramento couple who removed their lawn to create 300 feet of pathways that meander among colorful low-water use plants and were awarded “Garden of the Month” by their neighbors.
- A Sacramento landlord of five properties who converted most of his properties to low-water use landscapes and created his own water-wise oasis at home while cutting water use in half.
- A Roseville couple who replaced their lawn, sprinklers (and gardener) with rock, low-water use plants and drip irrigation and freed up their weekends to enjoy pursuits other than yard work.
- A trio of neighbors in Rocklin who took advantage of rebates from their water provider to remove thirsty lawn and create a block of beautiful, low-water yards.
Additional residents will be featured later in summer, and all of their stories will be posted to BeWaterSmart.info.
“The campaign reinforces that Sacramento-area residents are still committed to water efficiency even though the drought emergency has ended in Northern California, and that local water providers are working to sustain the momentum to use water wisely created by the drought,” Talbot said.
“The campaign reinforces that Sacramento-area residents are still committed to water efficiency even though the drought emergency has ended in Northern California, and that local water providers are working to sustain the momentum to use water wisely created by the drought,” Talbot said.
A recent RWA public opinion poll found that nearly 95 percent of residents said they took action to reduce water use at home during the drought, and that nearly 79 percent of residents said they plan to permanently reduce their water use even after the drought is over.
The outreach campaign, which is funded by a Department of Water Resources grant, echoes the statewide Save Our Water campaign that encourages Californians to “Fix it for Good” by making long-term changes to their landscapes.
See all of the stories and learn ways to Rethink Your Yard at BeWaterSmart.info.
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