Rainwater harvesting is the process of catching and storing rain or creating a path for the water to find its way to trees, plants, or gardens. Watch how water flows on a property during a rain storm. Direct it in to storage barrels or cisterns with gutters and use it later. Slow the flow on hills or slopes by creating a slight ditch (or row) on contour to prevent soil erosion as well as allow the water time to settle into the soil.

When it rains automatic irrigation systems can be turned off, even if it is just for a day or two! Rain stored in barrels can be used as needed over a period of weeks or months depending on the quantity stored. Properly managed and stored rainwater in the desert can make a difference in an arid environment.

Check out the Landscape Water Guide and “Watering By the Numbers” to help you determine the irrigation needs of your landscape.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

Our guest author this week is Doreen Pollack. She is a Master Gardener, a Permaculture Designer and the owner of Down 2 Earth Gardens. Doreen provides advice to homeowners on how to reduce the use and dependency of outside resources in their landscape. She specializes in working closely with do-it-yourself gardeners and people just starting to use their yard for food production and respite from their busy lives.

The next time you consider asking a for-profit company to sponsor your non-profit cause, first ask yourself the question, “What’s in it for them?” Sure, they want to be a good corporate citizen.  That’s a given.  What’s really at the crux of the question is how can engagement with you and your organization bump up their bottom line while doing good for the community?

You must get inside their heads before you can get inside their pockets.

- Park Howell

Acclaimed marketing professors Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee authored an insightful college textbook called, Corporate Social Responsibility, Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause. This book is filled with best practices on private/public partnerships with companies like The Home Depot, Ben & Jerry’s and Hewlett-Packard. Because it’s written for corporate managers in community relations and corporate giving and marketing, it offers non-profit leaders tremendous insight into how companies choose causes, and how to best align your mission with their mentality.

Here are ten recommendations from the final chapter: A Marketing Approach to Winning Corporate Funding and Support for Social Initiatives.

1. Start by developing a list of social issues that your organization or agency is currently charged with supporting and that would benefit from additional resources. Be specific.
2. Identify a short list of corporations that these social issues might have a connection with, something that relates to their business mission, products and services, customer base, employee passions, communities where they do business, and/or their corporate giving history.
3. Approach corporations and/or their communication agencies and find out more about their interests and experiences relative to supporting social initiatives.
4. Listen to their business needs.
5. Share with them the social issues your organization supports, the initiatives you are considering or engaged in, and your strengths and resources. Find out which, if any, they find most appealing.
6. Prepare and submit a proposal to those corporations most interested in your social issues. Present several optional initiatives for potential support, ones that are the best match for their stated business and marketing needs.
7. Participate in developing an implementation plan.
8. Offer to handle as much of the administrative legwork as possible.
9. Assist in measuring and reporting outcomes.
10. Provide recognition for the corporation’s contribution in ways preferred by the company.

If you have thoughts on how to approach companies to support your cause, or a terrific case study you’d like to share, please do so in the comment box below.

In the “highly romantic,” and mostly underfunded, business of water conservation, we typically get one or two shots at our target markets with our messages.  All while competing in that mass shooting gallery of advertising.  So not only do we have to be great shots, we have to be smart.  That’s where environmental triggers come in.

Brothers Dan & Chip Heath, educators and “idea collectors,” wrote an incredible book on messaging called, “Made to Stick.”  This is an absolute must read for anyone in the business of persuasion – and let’s face it, we’re all in that business in one way or another.  The Heaths are also regular contributors to Fast Company magazine where I came across their article about environmental triggers.

It’s gratifying to note that, several years prior to their book, article and blog, the Water – Use It Wisely campaign was built solely on environmental triggers.  The creative came from an intuitive solution to how to make our message resonate in the every day habits of our water-using customers.  That means everyone.

The whole concept is based around unexpected, but highly effective water-saving devices. Like a toothbrush, for instance. It is a physical prompt that reminds you to turn off the water while you brush your teeth (a razor does the same for shaving). Another example is water-saving device #15, a broom. It begs the question, “How can a broom save me water?”  The answer, of course, is to use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway or sidewalk and save at least 80 gallons every time. We make your broom an environmental trigger; a tangible extension of our message that triggers conscious actions toward saving water every time you use it.

The campaign is all about presenting these “water-saving devices,” each with it’s own number to emphasize the main campaign theme: “There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you.” You, of course, being water-saving device #1.

In our on-going effort to give voice to water – YOUR voice, and to make your life easier in finding and activating relevant information on ways to produce effective messaging, we highly recommend the Made to Stick blog.

If you’re using triggers in your messaging, or you have seen a great example of them in another campaign, please share it with the water world by commenting below.

Tip #17 in his book is to “Turn Off Your Tap,” and features the URL to the 100+ water-saving tips on the Water – Use It Wisely website.  The 49 other tips include:

#1 Calculate Your Carbon Footprint: www.earthlab.com
#4 Upgrade to a Hybrid: fueleconomy.gov
#16 Plant Trees: arborday.org
#22 Bring Your Bags: www.reusablebags.com
#24 Grow Your Own: backyardgardener.com
#31 Get Rid of Junk Mail: www.catalogchoice.org
#38 Green Your Computer: www.greenchoices.org
#44 Start a Green Business: greenlivingideas.com
#50: Vote Green: www.lcv.org

There are a number of ways to save water, AND the planet, and they all start with you.

Ten cities have one message for you: low-water-use plants save water. The municipalities of Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe have banded together to provide an online guide to water conserving plants. The guide depicts plants that defy conventional expectations for drought tolerant plants.

The new, interactive resource is an extension of the popular booklet Landscape Plants for
the Arizona Desert, now in its third printing. Both the printed and online publications catalog
over 200 plants that are inviting and sustainable. All plants listed are on the Arizona Department
of Water Resources “Low Water Use Plant List,” devised to address water conservation needs in
Arizona.

The new, online guide displays plant specifics, full-color photos, and the ability to search
for plants for a variety of landscape situations; sun exposure, flower color, flower season, and
bird, butterfly or hummingbird attractors. “Many of these plants may not be familiar to home or
business owners,” recounts Steve Olson, Arizona Municipal Water Users Association Water
Executive Director. “The water conservation benefits of low-water-use plants are well-know.
Their beauty can come as a surprise.”

The guide features plants that thrive while creating a rich planting palette, colorful
displays, pest and disease resistance, minimal care, and convey a unique sense of place. These
desert hardy plants are well-suited to the salty water, sandy-clay soils, and temperature range that
define the Valley of the Sun.

Written by local experts, the publication offers low-water-use plants that are relevant to
the life style, aesthetic and water conservation considerations for our valley. The new online
guide and a listing of sources for the free printed booklet are available at www.amwua.org.