The role of nature contact and connectedness to nature as determinants of household water use: A case study from Spain

Abstract

One of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 is to increase water-use efficiency in all sectors to ensure the availability of water resources. In the domestic sphere, water consumption is largely conditioned by the habits and behaviour of individuals, but the influence of their relationship with nature on those habits remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the influence of connectedness to and contact with nature on five different uses of water at home. Using ordered probit regressions with a sample of 874 students from the University of Granada (Spain), we found that connectedness to nature and nature contact is positively or nonsignificantly related to different dimensions of water efficiency. The results indicate that in order to encourage pro-environmental water use habits at home, efforts should be made to develop an ecocentric vision in schools and to promote school trips to explore and understand the nearest natural areas.