Survey Trends
The Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Index survey reveals insights into the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of residents in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Social, political, and environmental conditions have changed significantly since the first survey was administered in 2017. The ongoing impacts of these changes—to our climate, public health, and civic life—have likely played a role in the trends we see here. Advocates’ public outreach and behavior change efforts have also contributed to the trends shown in the data.
High-impact behaviors have become more common.
Installing rain barrels and picking up dog waste are among those actions measured through the Stewardship Index survey that have the highest impact on protecting water. While there is still room for improvement, these behaviors show an increase between 2017 and 2023.
- 17% of watershed residents now have rain barrels connected to their downspouts, up from about 10%.
- 88% of dog owners pick up after their dogs at least sometimes while off of their own property, a big jump from 54%. This increase was foreshadowed in the 2017 survey, which showed a high likelihood of adoption for this behavior among people who were not yet picking up after their dogs.
- 81% of dog owners pick up after their dogs on their own property, an increase from 73% in 2017.
People are ready to make positive change.
Survey results identify several actions that residents are highly likely to embrace in their lives. These behaviors may be particularly effective areas of focus for future behavior change campaigns.
- 75% and 74% (for bags and bottles respectively) of watershed residents indicated they may reduce their use of disposable plastic items in the future. In the current survey, these were the two behaviors with the highest likelihood to change.
- 68% might redirect downspouts away from hard surfaces towards planted areas, and 63% might fertilize their grass lawn less often.
- 58% might begin picking up after their dogs when off their property—a behavior that has already shown great improvement.
People indicate a little help would change their behavior.
Survey results demonstrate that assistance and education can significantly impact residents’ adoption of positive behaviors. While this survey explores the potential for people to take actions that benefit the environment, it does not identify why people engage in these behaviors. It is important that practitioners build on these results with deeper barrier and benefit research on their priority audiences, as outlined in Behavior Change Step 3.
- 63% of watershed residents would at least consider installing a rain garden if it is “designed and installed at no cost to [them],” while only 38% would do so without that assistance.
- 58% would at least consider planting a tree “if someone helped [them] pick out the right kind of tree and helped [them] plant it.” This is an increase from 45% on their own.
- While 81% would potentially use pesticides, this number drops to 47% “if [they] learned [pesticides] were also killing bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.” This finding is especially important as pesticide use has shown a significant increase since the 2017 survey.
The public is optimistic and engaged around water pollution and environmental protection—but there’s room for improvement.
Survey results show broad optimism and volunteerism, but also a lack of knowledge about stewardship actions. Further, the public still does not connect their individual actions to water pollution.
- 73% of watershed residents believe that “If people work together, water pollution around here can be fixed.”
- However, only 30% acknowledge their part in the problem, agreeing that “My daily activities contribute to pollution.”
- 34% said they have “volunteered [their] time to help clean up and protect local waters or the natural environment, for example a community clean-up or tree planting.” But only 52% agreed with the statement, “I know some things I can do to help reduce water pollution where I live.” Only 41% agreed that “If I wanted to volunteer to help the natural environment locally, I would know how to do that.”
Civic engagement on environmental issues has the potential to grow.
The health of local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay is an important personal priority for many residents. The survey results show that many more people are willing to advocate for the environment than are currently doing so. This presents an opportunity to build broader civic engagement.
- 12% of watershed residents would place the health of local waterways “at the top” of their list of “all the issues and challenges facing this region today.” Another 31% would call it an “above average” concern.
- 32% said they have “gotten involved in an issue that was important to [them]” by speaking out over the past year. Half of those (17%) said they were engaged with advocating for the environment.
- 36% said they “could see [themselves] speaking out for the environment by posting to social media or talking with [their] neighbors,” showing the potential for growth in civic engagement on behalf of the environment.
Most residents believe strong government action is needed to clean up the Bay.
A strong majority of watershed residents believe government involvement is important, but most also have doubts about local government responses to environmental problems. This suggests that local governments would benefit from increasing the visibility of the work they are doing.
- 67% of watershed residents believe, “Strong government action is needed to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers and streams that flow into it.”
- Only 10% disagree that government action is needed, with 23% neutral or unsure.
- However, only 33% agreed with the statement, “If I contacted my local government about an environmental problem like illegal dumping or a blocked storm drain, they would fix it.”
Some communities are especially likely to adopt positive behaviors.
Audience identification is a key step in developing a behavior change strategy. Using current adoption and likelihood data along with local knowledge, we can better understand what priority audience may be most effective for a campaign. For example:
- People under 45 and those with children in their households are the most likely to plant trees.
- Residents who identified as Hispanic or Latino expressed much higher likelihood than average to install rain barrels and to replace grass lawn with plants.
- People living in apartments and condos are much more likely than others to begin picking up after their dogs, both on their own property and away from home.
- Residents who identified as African-American/Black or Hispanic/Latino are more likely than others to look for fertilizing instructions and to begin fertilizing their lawns less often.
