HOUSTON – Houston Public Works is asking Houston residents to think about water conservation as the city continues to expand, with no guarantee that future water needs can be met.
The ‘Give Water a Break’ campaign is Houston Water’s latest attempt to encourage conservation, and limit wastefulness, according to an explainer on the City of Houston’s Public Works website.
“Through depictions of obvious wastefulness that diminishes Houston’s water supply, we will show our audience the how, when, and why behind water conservation. We hope to shift the public’s mindset from ‘wasting water because I can’ to ‘saving water because I should.’”
Some of the marketing material, particularly the slides engineered to be shared on social media, are spicy and sexually suggestive.
Mary Benton, the director of communication for Mayor Sylvester Turner, sent us a statement saying, “Is it sexually [suggestive]? The mayor and others often say Go Big or Go Home! We are the biggest city in Texas! In Houston, we like to do things big - from our food, to our ____. The campaign is a play on words and we want it to be catchy and memorable.”
We reached out to Houston Public Works for comment on the campaign and here’s what a spokesperson sent us:
“Houston Public Works worked with outside professionals for the Give Water A Break water conservation campaign during the Summer 2022 drought. HPW wanted it to be eye-catching, memorable, easy to understand, and show ways the community can conserve water while doing everyday tasks.
As mentioned during yesterday’s TTI committee meeting, a quarter of the water supply for the city of Houston over the next 50 years will come from conservation efforts. We hope people see it, talk about it, and take steps to conserve water.
We have more conservation tips on our website houstonpublicworks.org.”
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