Influencers make saving water the next big thing
With California suffering through its third year of severe drought, encouraging residents to save water has been an all-hands-on-deck effort. Recently, the state enlisted the help of more than a dozen California-based social media content creators and influencers in the beauty, lifestyle, travel, social justice, environmental and home improvement categories to increase information about saving water throughout California’s diverse array of communities.
These influencers joined an online briefing event to learn about the state of the current drought and what Californians can do to help. Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Chuck Bonham, and Chair of State Water Resources Control Board Joaquin Esquivel educated attendees about climate-driven drought and shared critical water-saving tips.
“With social media platforms now becoming the primary source of information and news, it is crucial we incorporate innovative and creative tactics when reaching our target audiences, especially those who are younger,” said Denisse Verón, Digital Manager at Runyon Saltzman, Inc. who organized the briefing.
“By leveraging the reach, creativity and influence of our content creators, we have the opportunity to reach more Californians with engaging and relatable content across social media platforms. This type of organic, raw content is what activates audiences to take a specific action,” she added.
Influencers who participated in the briefing were provided with a handful of tangible and actionable items to use on their platforms to motivate followers to save water.
“After all of these mandates, people are exhausted and they don’t want to see the guy or girl on television with suits and ties telling them what to do. [Influencers] know how to communicate in a way that distinguishes these messages
Govenor Newsom said during the briefing.
in a peer-to-peer, culturally
competent way,”
Since the briefing, some influencers like @onegrloneworld promoted a waterless facial cleansing routine.
Others shared tips about washing only full loads of laundry to save water, fixing leaks around the house, cleaning walkways and patios with brooms instead of hoses, using mulch in gardens to reduce supplemental plant watering and collecting and reusing shower water.
@Bontraveler used the opportunity to stoke civic pride by sharing “A Love Letter to California” video encouraging followers to visit SaveOurWater.com to learn how to save water at home.
All the selected influencers have a prominent social media presence. Many have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, some have millions of followers on TikTok.
To see more water-saving content generated by California influencers, follow @SaveOurWater on Instagram. Share your water conservation tips on social media with the hashtag #SaveOurWater.