Friday, September 3, 2010

Dihydrogen Monoxide



Water is essential to life and unfortunately we are running out. Remember that post about sinkholes? Our aquifers are drying up- which means unless you have adapted to drinking salt water, we are in trouble.

Day 6 of No Impact Week: Water

“The average American uses 1,189 gallons of water per day. By changing the way you brush your teeth, water your lawn, or wash your dishes, in addition to using efficient plumbing fixtures and appliances, you can reduce your water footprint by 25%”

Oook I am LOVING the fun facts in the No Impact Week How To Manual. 1,189 gallons?! Including sanitation and drinking the average person needs about 50 liters a day to live a healthy life, that’s about 13 gallons of water. Looks like we're taking a but more than our share.

I will admit I am very bad at conserving my water intake. When it's 6 am and I just woke up for my morning run the tap tends to get left on for awhile. But being tired is no excuse- so here are some ways to reduce your water use that I am going to start using in everyday life:

-Turn the tap on halfway. No need to blast the tap just to wash your hands.

-Turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth, washing your face, etc.

-Turn off the shower when you are shampooing/conditioning your hair. Or better yet, take a bath.

-Take colder showers, its better for your skin and hair too!

-Sponge-bathe. Your hair looks fine; think of all the time you’ll save if you skip re-washing and styling it. Give the pits a rinse and get on with your life!

-As my Mom always said to my brother and I – you do not need to drink from 50 different cups in one day! Reduce your dishes!

-Make less laundry. Only wore that shirt for a couple hours today? Hang it back up, don’t toss it in the laundry. You’ll conserve water and your clothes will last longer.

-Reuse cooking water to water plants. Especially the water used to wash produce- collect it and reuse it.

- If it’s yellow let it mellow if its brown flush it down. Too gross for you? (I’ll admit I really struggle with this one…) Set a plastic bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used per flush.

-Save yourself the $2 and wash your clothes in the tub and dry them on a drying rack. (I did the math once for two loads of laundry, one whites one darks, every two weeks at $2 for wash and dry it would cost me $192 a year to do laundry. That’s not even accounting for detergent.)

One thing I don’t want you to cut out from your life? Drinking water! Drink as much as you can. Most people confuse thirst with hunger, instead of drinking water they eat, and get only get thirstier...and then eat more- see the cycle? Drinking enough water improves your brain function as well! Just remember to bring your reusable water bottle with you everyday and fill it up at water fountains- don't throw your money(and Earth) away and buy bottled water!

For personalized suggestions on how to lower your intake use the Water Calculator. It's really cool!

Want More?
Water Smart Card
Water Footprint
Water Footprint of your Food

Do you drink enough water throughout the day? How much water do you use throughout the day?

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