1. Shut It Off
By Anna Barker
Photo:1582
Caption: Photo Credit: Anna Barker
What motivates people to change?
That was my take-away question after participating alongside my fellow Master Water Steward
from Woodbury and summer staff who put on the Puppet Wagon shows about smart water usage
in our City parks during the week of July 11, 2016.
How DO you change people’s behavior?
The answer is CBSM…
“The cornerstone of both sustainability and health is behavior change. If we are to move toward
a sustainable and healthy future, we must encourage the adoption of a multitude of actions (e.g.,
waste reduction, water and energy efficiency, active lifestyles, hand washing, vaccinations,
etc.). To date, most programs to encourage such activities have relied upon disseminating
information. Research demonstrates, however, that simply providing information has little or no
effect on what people do. But if not ads, brochures or booklets, then what? “ (www.cbsm.com)
Over the last decade a new approach—community–based social marketing— (CBSM) has
emerged as an effective alternative for delivering programs to foster sustainable behavior. Dr.
Doug McKenzie-Mohr is the founder of community-based social marketing. Recommended by
Time magazine, his book "Fostering Sustainable Behavior” has become requisite reading
for those working to deliver environmental program to promote water efficiency, waste
reduction, energy efficiency, conservation, modal transportation changes, watershed protection,
and other sustainable behavior changes. Community-based social marketing is a unique approach
to fostering both environment and health related behavioral changes and is now being utilized in
thousands of programs across the globe. It has become the foundation for the trainings and
programs of the Freshwater Society and Master Water Stewards in the effort to develop
Community Leadership for Clean Water.

2. Photo: Stephanie Wang
Caption: Master Water Stewards Stephanie Wang, (left), Anna Barker (rear), David Rittenhouse
and Idelle Peterson (right) work on a rain garden design at a spring rainscaping workshop.
Since January, my fellow Master Water Stewards-in-training and I have been attending classes,
participating in online instructional modules, and doing the “brain work” to develop a set of
skills that will enable us to use CBSM (see www.cbsm.com for more resource access) for both
education and outreach and to facilitate and implement infiltration projects with the goal to “Stop
it Where it Drops!” and keep rain where it belongs: nurturing and nourishing all the plants in our
ecosystem and keeping stormwater runoff, with its accompanying possible pollutants out of our
amazing freshwater streams, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and rivers in Minnesota.
Photo: At WMWO
Caption: Master Water Stewards Anna Barker and Brian Bohman visit a test site to compare how
different types of engineered soil clean stormwater run-off from Mississippi Watershed Management
Organization’s parking lot.
For the past 7 months, we learned about the Big Picture issues facing our fresh water resources;
about the Problem as it affects our daily lives; that there are no “silver bullet” answers but that a
Treatment Train of Solutions exists that can be customized for effective local projects with
community involvement and partnerships. We learned that we CAN contribute to behavior
change that has positive impacts on water conservation and water quality. Then Stephanie Wang
and I aligned our needs here in Woodbury with the Mission and Vision of the Master Water
Stewards and put a plan of action into place.
Please go to the Woodbury’s city website and check out at their June 16 newsletter
http://www.ci.woodbury.mn.us/images/city-update-june16.pdf to access their latest water quality
report and the City Council Strategic Initiatives update. We used the new parks and trails map
and navigated a route that aligned with the Woodbury Puppet Wagon during the week of July
11th, which was designated as Water Week, with the puppets engaging the audience in reasons
why they wanted humans to become more “Water Wise.” Then the audiences were directed to

3. where Stephanie and I had set up an interactive display borrowed from the Washington
Conservation district and had bubbles floating in the air to draw the attention of our young
audience and their caregivers!
Photo: Puppet wagon event
Caption: Anna Barker and Stephanie Wang incorporated Washington Conservation District’s
new interactive water conservation displays during the Puppet Wagon week. Photo credit: Anna
Barker
By our count, we had 467 in attendance during the 8 shows that we were involved with and had
teaching props set up like toothbrushes (up to one gallon of water a minute can go down the
drain if left running while you brush your teeth!), empty tuna cans that CAN be set out under
sprinklers for children to play in and then SHUT IT OFF when the cans are full up to their one-
inch level, (1” is the weekly limit that Woodbury wants residents and businesses to comply with
for irrigation water efficiency). We also passed out native flower bouquets and free wildflower
seed packets from the Washington County Master Gardeners to encourage pollinator/butterfly-
friendly low-irrigation lawns and raingardens.
Photo:1623
Caption: Woodbury children explore ways to cut down use of water in their homes and yards
with hands on activities in the kit.
Please see the fun water conservation music video with a parody of Taylor Swift’s song “Shake
it off” to hear the catchy tune that the children and I had ringing in our heads as we left our
lovely parks, happy and ready to make our water use footprints child-sized!
http://ci.woodbury.mn.us/environment/water-conservation/watering-tips
Here’s to a Water Wise August!
****
You can become a Master Water Steward and work in your community to address water issues.
Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District is seeking eight new volunteers to join the next
round of training session which start in October. For a link to the application and more

4. information go here: http://therippleeffectmn.blogspot.com/2016/06/recruitment-for-master-
water-stewards.html or contact Sage Passi at Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District at
sage.passi@rwmwd.org or 651-792-7958
Baby Josephine, Anna Barker’s first grandchild Photo credit: Kate Barker)