There are now applications for everything including helping the environment. Simon Pham reports.

Mobile applications offer advertisers a new way to access consumers. Image: Creative Commons

With soaring utility bills and climate change on everyone’s minds, applications or apps are now being created to help monitor environmental responsibility. One of the recent eco-focused developments to come out of the digital age is the iSaveH2O app. But can an application help change wasteful behaviour?

Whether you’re an ‘Angry Bird’ or ‘Hanging With Friends,’ phone applications are being used more than ever. The latest Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index study surveyed 3,758 people. Conducted by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA), the study showed 41 per cent installed an application on their phone primarily for personal use. 82 per cent of respondents listed games as their most popular type of application downloaded. Utility apps such as maps and navigation were a priority for 73 per cent of those surveyed.

The iSaveH2O app is described by Apple’s App Store as “a tool that allows environment-conscious people to monitor their water usage and calculate how they can reduce water consumption. The app was developed by Smart Approved WaterMark (Smart WaterMark), an Australian based — not-for profit — water saving labelling program. Included in the app is a list of water saving products approved by Smart WaterMark.

iSaveH2O’s use of the phone application medium “gets to people [because] they can get a daily reminder, it can be referred to easily, [and] it is with people all day long,” according to Professor of Marketing Management, David Corkindale, from the University of South Australia.

The study also found that respondents perceived applications as consistently “easy to use” only 70 per cent of the time.

Marketing Strategist, Dr Greg Chapman, Director of Empower Business Solutions, said: ”The application [iSaveH2O] looks too complex to use for anyone except someone who is already committed on this path, but water tank retailers may find it a good tool to use with their customers.”

Dr Chapman added that consumers are likely to prefer the water saving calculator on the SmartWaterMark website because significant data entry is required which is difficult using a small screen.