“The link between heated water use and climate change stems from the energy-intensive process of heating and transporting water,” PhD research student Hyungro Yoon said. 

Yoon added that most heating systems are reliant on fossil fuel-based energy sources that result in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. These trap heat in the atmosphere and accelerate global climate change. Additionally, the element of electricity that’s needed for water transportation adds to the carbon footprint of water consumption. 

When students take longer showers than needed, increasing the usage of heated water, the cumulative energy demand increases exponentially. Because of this, SSI works toward limiting the amount of carbon emissions through advocating for heated water conservation. 

According to Yoon, the research follows three phases: formative research, message testing experiment and field experiment. 

After an initial questionnaire with students to see what motivates them to take shorter showers and the amount of their emotional investment with shorter showers, water meters were placed and measured daily for a full year in Mason, Abbot and Snyder-Phillips in north neighborhood. After testing the amounts of water that was being used by students in showers, which came out to an average of around eight minutes, communication methods were being studied on how to best convey and best understand student engagement with different messages. 

Within the communication analysis, Iyer emphasized the role societal norms play in students’ decisions on shower length. After measuring the data from the water meters and initial questionnaires, messages were created to help reduce shower length for the same dorms. The results concluded that the most prominent impacts on shower length include other peers’ actions, how much peers’ care, the time of day and the style of the bathroom. 

“It is also taxing and resource-intensive to retrofit things to become more sustainable and energy efficient,” Iyer said. “And so, I think it’s honestly kind of an inertia because we already have these systems in place and infrastructure in place, so it was a huge lift to even think about, ‘Oh, how do we make this sustainable next?’” 

The potential for drought in the future makes the SSI particularly important to MSU.

“If you’re thinking about how many people outside of Michigan are also relying on the Great Lakes, it’s many, many states surrounding us that will become drought-prone,” Iyer said. 

Full data analysis has not been fully completed yet, and the number of variables may seem daunting, but the researchers are looking to the future of the project with optimism. 

Lead student undergraduate researcher Kayla Tracey will present the initiative's findings to the University Research and Arts Forum this year. They will present on whether or not the social norms messaging and timers that were put into the north neighborhood showers had any change on student water usage.

 “This presentation specifically will be all of our quantitative findings from the actual experimental data, so whether or not our interventions helped reduce student shower water usage,” Tracey said. 

 If the data shows that those were successful, Tracey mentioned the possibility of the expansions of those interventions campus wide. 

“I hope that we can find a way that we can reduce our carbon footprint as an institution and also that we can help students understand that we all play a part in that output,” Tracey said. 

Iyer also said that there was outside cooperation that helped the research move forward smoothly. The staff at the north neighborhood dorms and the IPF staff were kind and helpful in the process of measuring research and data from the dorm showers, Iyer said. 

Although it can be difficult to be aware of one’s individual impact in a community this large, the SSI researchers emphasized that every individual's actions matter. 

“I would just encourage everybody to pay attention and get involved in any opportunity that you can, and that if you want to get involved in sustainability or in conservation research that there's so many outlets and ways that you can do it,” Tracey said. “Research is such a great way to make systemic changes to issues that can sometimes feel so hopeless or so much bigger than ourselves.” 

The overall goal of the SSI, according to Iyer, is the hope that MSU students will become more mindful and aware of their water usage and consumption habits that can lead to their carbon footprint. 

“By shortening showers by just a few minutes, students can reduce water waste and energy use, lowering MSU’s overall carbon footprint,” Yoon said. “These small behavioral changes can help set new social norms, encouraging more sustainable habits both on and beyond campus.”