When did you stop leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth?

It’s a serious question. For many people, the answer is: they never started. But depending on your age, there may have been a time when it never occurred to you not to.

So what changed—and why?

The shift in how we manage and value our water resources is a perfect example of the power of media.

Here’s why:-

Context: The change didn’t happen overnight. It was embedded over time through effective messaging—delivered by countless spokespeople via focused public service campaigns.

Action: The message offered something simple and doable: turn off the tap. Easy to understand, easy to put into practice.

Resolution: No need for an overload of stats on rainfall levels or water storage infrastructure. The message worked because it was clear and human.

The National Trust is aiming for something similar: for the sake of birds, bees, and insects, don’t cut your grass too short.

In a nutshell: the context around the demand, the action you need to take - and the resolution it will deliver. It hasn’t caught on everywhere—many still want lawns that look like snooker tables—but it will.

And not through lectures about rewilding or endless stats on land lost to industrial and housing development. It’ll happen because of a simple, actionable message that people can adopt without needing a science degree.

It’s what we do and have done for years: pin pointing those critical themes, polishing them up and putting them under real world scrutiny.