Behaviour change Unilever 3/4
dry liquids and dry shampoos. Showering in particular is a target area – challenging in so much as it’s a private occasion. Around half of Unilever’s total water footprint is associated with con- sumer use so mapping people’s shower- ing habits in terms of water temperature, flow rate and time spent getting wet is critical. In 2011, Unilever developed special sensors that could be used in the shower to measure these variables and the project yielded some insightful anal- ysis. “We found that it costs the average fam-
ily around £400 a year just on showering and that using a power shower could double that cost. Power showers can also use twice as much water as a bath,” Fenwick points out.
Unilever is now going one step further to help consumers understand better both the cost and environmental impli- cations of their habits while in the home. Last November it launched a six-month Sustain Ability Challenge in association with 12 UK households, aiming to bust the myth that environmentally-friendly living costs more. The first phase, which focused on food waste and recycling in the kitchen, is now
“With our Sustain Ability Challenge, we are studying consumer behaviour but also looking to see what interven- tions we can give them. Understanding social norms are really important here, as well as aspirations and cost savings,” Fenwick explains. “Talking to people about saving water in the UK is quite a difficult thing to do because we are not seen as a water-scarce
complete and the challenge is now enter- ing its second phase – water and energy savings in the bathroom. The results of the challenge, along with quantitative and qualitative research analysis, are due to be published later this year. The initia- tive is very much aligned with Unilever’s ‘five levers for change’ approach – prac- tical insights that can deliver meaningful and enduring behavioural change.
nation. So for us, it’s much more about promoting the energy that’s used to heat the water. You need to talk in terms of what it can do to help the consumer save money on bills,” she adds. Interestingly, teabags are also proving a tough nut to crack. Through its PG Tips brand, some 20 million Unilever teabags are brewed and discarded each day – and recycling them is now considered prior- ity.
“Our teabags are the biggest contribu- tor to Unilever’s waste footprint in the UK,” reveals Fenwick. “We want to see these recycled, either through food waste collections or home composting and so we have been working to try and increase participation rates among households.” Unilever has already engaged with two local authorities to introduce kerbside food waste collections and capture more of this material stream through aware- ness raising by utliising the PG Tips and ‘Monkey’ branding – the next stage according to Fenwick is to figure out how to scale up such pilots. “We put a big emphasis on food waste last year and hosted a roundtable with stakeholders from across the value chain to find out more about the part we
Teabags are the biggest contributor to Unilever’s waste footprint in the UK. We want to see these recycled, either through waste collections or home composting
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