National "GO BLUE" Campaign Encourages Canadians to Cut Water Use in Half

Canada's fresh water supply is at risk. In many parts of Canada we are using our drinking water faster than nature can renew it, and we need to reduce our wasteful water habits. That's the message of a campaign, launched today, GO BLUE, which encourages Canadians to conserve water.

Visit www.goblue.org to find out why Canada's fresh water is at risk. Calculate how much you're wasting and take steps to reduce.

Poll Reveals Canadians' Personal Water Habits

A recent IPSOs-Reid poll reveals that only six per cent consider themselves to be a threat to Canada's long-term supply of fresh water. More than half of all Canadians (52%) think Canadians in general are doing enough to conserve fresh water. Yet, Canadians are the second largest wasters of water on the planet. Other poll highlights include:

• Bath vs. shower: Just over half of Canadians (55%) correctly noted that a bath uses more water than a 10-minute shower. A standard bath uses about 75 litres of water, while a five-minute shower with a low-flow showerhead uses about half that amount.

• Amount of time in the shower: Canadians spend an average of 7.6 minutes in the shower. Young Canadians (18-34) spend the most time in the shower at 9.6 minutes, and those 55+ take shorter showers, at 6.3 minutes. Regionally, Albertans spend the most time in the shower (8.4 minutes).

  Tip from GO BLUE: Install a low-flow showerhead and reduce your time in the shower. By installing a low-flow showerhead you and your family could save more than an average swimming pool full of water a year.

• Toilet flushing: On average Canadians flush their toilet 4.9 times a day. A family of four flushes almost 20 times a day.

  Tip from GO BLUE: Reduce flushes, where possible. Additionally, you can adapt your existing toilet by installing water-saving devices or replace it with an ultra-low-volume toilet. If everyone in Canada installed a low-flush toilet, we'd save about 25,000 Olympic swimming pools of water, annually.

• Lawn watering and rain barrel use: Canadians, on average, water their lawns 1.5 times a week in the summer months. Regionally, British Columbians water their lawns the most, an average of two times per week. The majority of Canadians (86%) believe that using a rain barrel in their garden is important, but less than half (43%) say they are actually using rain barrels. Only 25 per cent of all Canadians always use rain barrels.

  Tip from GO BLUE: Turn off the hose and use a rain barrel. As a general rule, your lawn requires only two to three cm of water per week.

GO BLUE is supported by Waterlution, Water Matters, Polis and The Canadian Partnership of the UN Water for Life Decade. It is a Unilever Canada initiative that encourages Canadians to cut their water use by half. The campaign includes national TV, print, out-of-home, online, and in-store communication.

Canadians can visit goblue.org to find information about Canada's fresh water supply and water-saving tips for the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room and garden. They can also access a unique water footprint calculator, which allows them to measure how much water they're using in each room, and then learn tips on how to reduce water use. Users can track their successes online, and invite others to do the same.

These are some of the results of an IPSOs Reid poll conducted online with a sample of 2,309 adult Canadians. The survey was conducted from January 25 to January 30, 2008. The results are considered accurate to within ± 2.0% 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire adult population in Canada been polled. The data were weighted according to census data to mirror the demographic composition of Canada.