Psychology of class and water conservation:

Driving Questions:

Why do people of either classes have these thoughts about water conservation?
What affects people to think like this?
Do we need fear to get people to use less water?

ASPECT 1: Class and Money:

Higher class: People of higher class don't have to think about money or the cost,
because they have money and they can afford whatever the cost is. They don't care
about how much water they use, they do not realize that it is affecting everyone in
different ways such as use as a community running out of water, and having less
resources and having to dig deeper into the earth. Its also the mindset thinking of Oh,
there's an infinite amount of water, if it runs out I'll be able to afford it I have no worries,
so we can use as much water as we please

While On The Other Hand.

Lower class: People of Lower class don't have the money to just use or even
wastewater, even a small leak could cost them lots. They have to use it carefully for the
essential needs. For example drinking, showering, and food, Lower Class families, and
other will end up fearing about how big the water bill is now these days due to water
being a thing that everyone uses and does not think about. They end up fearing if they
could even pay that bill.

ASPECT 2: Economical and Environmental:

Higher class: People of higher class are not always the bad guys, sometimes we have
our higher class individual people who are trying to actually help the environment by
doing things such as: purchasing solar panels, buying organic foods, water timers, and
using less water. But these are some things that the higher classes can do to help the
environment with having money (because we all know how expensive that all could be),
for example getting nice rain collectors to use to collect rainfall and use that to water
their lawn or vegetation, or getting a really nice eco friendly car that electric and doesn't
take much gas. Over all the high class people can afford to buy items that are
environmentally friendly. Just remember they are not always snotty as we stereotype
them to be.

While on Another end of the Spectrum.

Lower class: People of lower class cannot help what their income is or what they can
or cannot do to help our environment. The lower class has other things to focus on like
feeding the family, work, money, and surviving in this country with their resources.
Money will always be a factor for why you can't do certain things. They may try and help
the environment, but in a way they already are because of the fear of using to much and
being charged, and with the car, they may not be able to even afford a car, but if they
are it may not be the top notch eco friendly less usage of gas car. The lower class could
limit their water usage by fixing leaks, but there is no other way they could besides
purchasing low flush toilets, but then again those are expensive. The bill is a big thing
whether they can afford to pay it or not like I mentioned in Aspect 1.

You may ask how the heck does phycology tie into water conservation well here's your
answer:
This is a story that Martha Whitaker from the UofA told us when she visited our
classroom, and even though it's not in Tucson it applies. So onward.

Psychological/thoughts in California:

In California they did an experiment with people and where they lived. The people who
did this looked at a neighborhood's water usage rates and then looked at the individual
homes. If a house used less than the average a smily face emoji was placed on their
door, and if they used more than the average they would put a water drop and unhappy
emoji on their door. This was kind of conservative because there were unhappy people
within the more than average category where in a way I would say ashamed and
looking for someone to blame besides themselves.

The next time this was done it was found that the people who used less than the
average used more than the average, and vice versa for the people who used more
than the average they used less because they felt guilty. This was a recurring process
of going on and off between more than the average or less than the average.

People who used less than the average though oh I can use a little more and it won't
make a difference but, that difference turned into a big difference they ended up in the
more than average category. People who used more than the average like I said where
ashamed and felt guilty because their state california is in a drought. Nobody seemed to
take in the fact that if they got below the average that it was a good thing and not
wasting water. But, there were still the average people who kept that at average.

This teaches us that we think if we get a certain category that we can't be labeled or go
by that or even agree and think that maybe using less water than others used is a good
thing. And that's how this presentation applies to psychology and water conservation. I
could go on and on about how this applies to psychology but it gets into more of the
human brain and that would be boring. If you would like to know more you can ask us.

Why do people of either classes have these thoughts about water conservation?

If you are a person of the lower class it may not occur to you that conserving water is
something to do, because like we said quite a few times that lower class people already
conserve water because of the fear of that water bill they get every month. There are 2
types of higher class individuals according to richhabits.com there are the ones who
don't care about anyone and care more about money than their own friends and family,
and then there's the types of higher class people who are really big on helping/saving
the environment and they get a electric car and instal rain collectors and all of that kind
of stuff.

There are millions of people all over the world who dont have access to water, or, if
they have access, that water is unable to be used. About 70% of the Earths surface is
covered with water and 3% of it is actually freshwater that is fit for human consumption.
Around two-thirds of that is tucked in frozen glaciers and unavailable for our use.
According to World Wildlife Foundation, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access
to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year.

Clean drinking water is scarce and there are millions of people across this globe who
spend their entire day searching for it. Yet, people who have access to safe, clean
drinking water take it for granted and dont use it wisely.

RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIF. Drought or no drought, Steve Yuhas resents the idea
that it is somehow shameful to be a water hog. If you can pay for it, he argues, you
should get your water.People should not be forced to live on property with brown
lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful,
Yuhas fumed recently on social media. We pay significant property taxes based on
where we live, he added in an interview. And, no, were not all equal when it comes to
water.

So how do you explain a place like Rancho Santa Fe, an enclave of San Diego County,
where water use has gone up by 9 percent since April?Money. Steve Yuhas, a
conservative talk-show host and part-time resident of Rancho Santa Fe, explained in a
Washington Post hate-read this weekend: We pay significant property taxes based on
where we live, he said. And, no, were not all equal when it comes to water.

Yuhas quote is one of many nauseatingly backwards statements in the piece on why
ultra-wealthy owners of multi-acre propertieswhich might boast orchards, stables,
elaborate waterworks, and of course, bright sweeps of lawndeserve more sympathy
and fewer penalties.
Im a conservative, so this is strange, but I defend Barbra Streisands right to have a
green lawn, Yuhas says elsewhere in the story. Gay Butler, an interior designer,
believes that having such few residents (two) on a property the size of hers (four acres)
is actually conservation-positive. You could put 20 houses on my property, and theyd
have families of at least four. In my house, there is only two of us, Butler says. [T]heyd
be using a hell of a lot more water than were using.
Rancho Santa Fe counts among the few areas in California required to squeeze water
use by 36 percent, the maximum reduction. But its also one of a few places in the state
thats actually cranking the faucet open harder since the drought began, for reasons that
arent totally clear. Are residents jacking up water use in a misguided attempt to
increase their baseline before rationing kicks in, as one local water official suggested to
the Post? Is a sort of deprivation mentality encouraging folks to flood their yards? Or is it
something more brazen and selfish: A fat middle finger pointing north to Sacramento?

Causes of Water Scarcity:

Overuse of Water: Water overuse is a huge issue that a lot of people are
dealing with. It may be overused on people, animals, land, or any other
number of things. It may also be used for recreational activities without any
care about the effects that it may have on the world around them.
Pollution of Water: Water pollution is a huge problem, especially when youre
looking at areas that dont necessarily have a good sewage system. Pollution
can be anything from oil, to carcasses, to chemicals, and to fecal matter. No
matter what it is; it makes a lot of issues for the people who may need to use
it.
Conflict: If there is conflict over an area of land, it may be difficult to access
the water that is located there. In the worst case scenarios, people could end
up dying if they try to access the water in these areas (due to violence). This
can result in a variety of other issues, including pollution, which we discussed
in the previous point.
 Distance: There are a number of areas throughout the entire world that deal
with water scarcity because they just arent close to anywhere that has water.
Areas that are considered to be desert, or areas that are secluded, may not
have somewhere that the people can get water effectively.
Drought: A drought is, in short, an area which is not getting enough rainfall to
be able to sustain the life that is residing there. Some areas are in perpetual
drought, whereas other areas may be dealing with a drought on occasion.
Droughts are common all over the world, and there is little that can be done to
prevent such things from happening.
Governmental Access. In some countries, specifically those with
dictatorships, the use of water may be strictly controlled by those in power,
causing a scarcity for those who may be located in those areas of the world.
These governments use it as a source of control over those that they are
governing, which can be a huge problem.

Effects of Water Scarcity:

Lack of Access to Drinking Water: The biggest problem that happens when
you have water scarcity is that people are not able to get fresh, clean drinking
water. The human body can only go so long without water, and a lack of
drinking water can result in a number of other problems, which we discuss
below.
Hunger: If there is no water that can be used in order to help water the crops,
then you are going to have people that are going hungry. Animals will also die,
which will result in a lack of meat as well. Water scarcity, in short, causes
starvation to occur en masse for both people and animals that are located in
the area.
Lack of Education: Water scarcity makes it difficult for people to get the
education that they need or that they deserve. Why? Mainly, because those
 children are either too sick to go to school (which we will discuss below), or
they are working to help get water to the home and the family.
Diseases: If you dont have clean water access, then you will be more likely to
get diseases from the water that you do have. Whether youre drinking the
water or using it for bathing, those diseases will get into the body and, in a
number of cases, the people carrying those diseases will pass away.
Sanitation Issues: Without access to clean water, there is no way to clean
food, dishes, or people. When people are not given access to proper
sanitation, disease (which we talked about above) ends up becoming much
more of an issue than it would have been otherwise. It also causes mental
health issues, including depression and anxiety.
Poverty: All in all, people who are dealing with water scarcity are often stuck
in poverty as well. These people are not able to get the resources that they
need in order to be able to thrive, and instead are just barely surviving through
these difficult times.

Do we need fear to get people to use less water?

Yes we do need fear, we need to somehow get our voices out and show that water is
becoming limited and there is nothing we can do unless we conserve our water.

Californian water conservation slipped for the third consecutive month in August,
prompting new alarm from regulators about whether relaxed water restrictions may be
causing residents to revert to old habits as the state enters its sixth year of severe
drought.

The trend raises new questions about Californians willingness to continue harshly to
conservation after spending the last two years dramatically reducing their water use by
ripping out lawns, installing water-sipping appliances and shortening their showers.
Conservation numbers varied widely across the state, with some places actually saving
more water compared with 2015 levels. But other communities are turning the spigot
back on, and state data show that several of the worst offenders are the affluent cities
that previously have been criticized for heavy consumption.

1. Race and Water Conservation:

As you can see the white category has has 73% in the water conservation versus race,
because like it said on pimacounty.gov that most white population people/families in
general are in a way more privileged because of their skin color, or class, and job.
pimacounty.gov said that the reason they do not necessarily conserve water is because
of their job, and possible class. I know it seems a bit racist, but we're just going off of
what they website said
 2. Age and Water Conservation:
In this pie chart you can see that it is pretty equal among the age groups of 5-17,18-34,
and 35-49 you see in these 3 groups that they are the ones who use the most water in
the whole pie chart. On the web site it did not have a clear explanation of why these 3
groups have an equal majority, but our theory is: 5-17 you still live you parents or
guardian and they pay your bill, 18-34, is what some say to be the peak in your life
when you're establishing a career and life, and last but not least 35-49, they can pay
their bills, and they may be really successful and fortunate with money.

3. Lower Class Water Conservation:

Like you may have read in some of our text, the lower class in a way has to fear of their
bill, and how much its going to be cost wise. But a few of the things they do not
conserve on is: Tap water, toilets, cloth washing, and showers, but these are normal
things to not necessarily to conserve on. They are necessities. It's not like you're going
to go a whole year or more without showering, or washing cloths. You want to smell
good, and not smell like a dump.

. Higher Class Water Conservation:

4
As you can see on higher class and water conservation, half of what they use their
water on is irrigating the outdoors. Pimacounty.gov said they use half of there water on
outdoor irrigation to have a good housing appearance such as having a nice lawn, or
gardan. The higher class does not conserve water in the outdoor irrigation category,
because of the appearance, even here in arizona higher class populations would want a
green lawn, and hundreds of flowers. Just for that perfect suburban house look.