How long could you really go without fuel? How about electricity? While there would be inherent annoyances that would come about from living without these resources, you couldn’t even survive three days without water.
Water makes up about 65 percent of our body and 71 percent of Earth. The fact that we are seemingly surrounded by water causes many of us to take it for granted, but it’s a precious resource that needs to be conserved and recycled if we plan to keep our planet green and bodies healthy. Not to mention the money we save by conserving water!
You would be hard-pressed to find someone who is against conserving water, but many of us just don’t know where to start with our individual conservation efforts.
Most of us have heard the basic water conservation tips such as turning the faucet off while you’re brushing your teeth. However, since most faucets installed after 1994 are efficient and low-flow faucets anyway, tips like these have a relatively low level of impact on our water footprint. Granted, every step in the right direction is worth taking, but it helps to have a conservation plan in place before taking any action, and that includes knowing where the most water is being wasted.
- Roughly 15 percent of our indoor water use comes from leaks. That’s right, 15 percent of the water we use in our homes and apartments never even reaches our ice-cold glass or our shampooed hair. A lot of this water loss can be attributed to toilets that have cracked or otherwise worn seals.
- Most bathtubs hold 50 to 70 gallons of water.
- Water conservation when doing the laundry is particularly important as it accounts for roughly 25 percent of your indoor water use.
- Tip: Put a couple of drops of food coloring in the reservoir and wait 30 minutes. If the coloring shows up in the bowl, it may be time to check the seal. You can conserve water even more by rigging the toilet to use less water during each flush. Just displace some of the water in the reservoir and insert a couple of bricks on the bottom.
- Tip: Shower! Simply taking a shower is typically a conservation act in itself. Another alternative is to use a low-flow shower-head which can save up to 15 gallons of water during a 10-minute shower. Additionally, turn the water off while you shampoo, soap, or use conditioner. Not only are you saving water, but for each hot water gallon saved you are also conserving energy.
- Tip: Make sure to adjust the setting to the proper load size before starting.
While keeping to the basic water saving tips is a good place to start, our conservation efforts will be more effective if we are aware of our water footprint as individuals, as communities, and as a global population. Monitor yourself and your community and then start taking action to preserve our planet’s resources.
What other water conservation tips would you add?
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