Do this |
Because |
|
| Drink water |
A
gallon/liter of any beverage (other than water) requires many more
gallons/liters more water to be made than just plain water. Plants for
juices need water, tea and coffee plants need water, milk comes from
cows that need a lot of water. One glass of milk requires the use of
dozens of gallons of water for the cow and the processing of the milk.
Bottled water needs more water than tap water. Even sweetener needs
water. Drinking plain tap water is by far the most water-saving way to
go. |
significant |
| Limit the water flow in the shower |
Less water flow means less use of water per time period.
I used a coin the size of a penny, drilled a 1/16" hole
in it and put it between the shower head and the water line.
The shower now uses less than 1 gallon of water per minute
even at full force. Cheap and very effective. |
significant |
| Showers instead of baths |
A brief shower uses much less hot water than a bath. Heating
water requires much energy and causes pollution somewhere.
|
noticeable |
Install a small bathtub |
If you need to change bathtubs consider instlling a smaller
one (if that is possile). This way you will use less hot water
every time you take a bath. |
significant |
| Try "one-song showers" |
Taking a shower instead of a bath saves a lot of water only
if the showers are short. Try to be done in 5 minutes. Try
to complete your shower while listening to a favorite tune
and be done before it is over. |
not enough |
| Take short showers |
The shorter your shower the less you pollute. A 20 minute
shower may use as much water as a completely filled bathtub.
How long can it take to get clean? What sort of dirt is on
you that does not come off quickly with a bit of water and
soap? Get wet, soap, rinse - done!. Hot water costs energy
and creates pollution. |
noticeable |
| Replace shower head |
Installing a water-saving shower head reduces the water flow.
Without reducing your shower time you already use much less
hot water. |
noticeable |
| Turn off water while you are soaping |
This is fairly common in many places, just not in North
America. Turning off the water while you are soaping reduces
your hot water use and increases the efficiency of soaping.
|
noticeable |
| Shower alone |
two together usually (not always!) takes longer than two individuals taking
a shower separately. That means you are using more hot water.
|
not enough |
| Shower cold or less hot |
Reducing the temperature of your shower reduces how much
you pollute. |
significant |
| Shower less often |
If you did not get really dirty or sweaty you may choose
to take a sponge bath rather than a bath or shower. Not taking
a shower or bath maximizes your hot water savings. Saves money
- pollutes less. |
significant |
| Take a bath with another person |
While taking a shower with another person often takes longer,
taking a bath will save energy. Two people in one tub displace
more water and it takes less water to fill the tub. Also,
it does not matter how long it takes, the water consumption
is cut in half. Make sure to not get a bigger tub though.
|
noticeable |
| Share the water |
As it was more common in earlier times, several people can
use the bathwater in a row. This cuts the water use per person
and pollutes less. |
noticeable |
| Make up after taking a bath |
Taking very short showers several days following a bath
you can at least try to balance the higher water use from the
day you took a bath |
noticeable |
| Flush toilet less often |
Every time you flush your toilet you dump 6 to 10 gallons
of drinking water into the sewer system. Flushing less often
results in less drinking water use. You may choose to flush
only for removing solids or larger amounts of accumulated urine.
|
noticeable |
| Small toilet tank |
A smaller toilet tank wastes less drinking water |
noticeable |
| Urinate in the garden |
It adds fertilizer to the natural world and you do not pollute
and flush drinking water. |
significant |
| Composting toilet |
A composting toilet transforms human feces into a valuable
source for plant growth. We are very used to flushing it down,
but if you live in the country you could take advantage of
the fertilizer you make every day. |
noticeable |
| Clean driveway with broom |
Use a broom and let the rain finish the work. Standing there
with a hose in hand is not real work, unbelievably unnecessary,
and finally wastes drinking water. If it does not rain where
you live, you should not waste water by washing your house.
|
not enough |
| Let rain wash your house |
Why would you wash your house? One good reason please! Let
the rain wash you house. If it does not rain where you live,
you should not waste water by washing your house. |
not enough |
| Wash everything less often |
The less you wash anything the less water or hot water you
use. That translates into less pollution. |
noticeable |
| Use water of dehumidifier for laundry |
If you operate a dehumidifier (which uses quite a bit of
energy by the way) you can use the collected water for doing
laundry or watering plants. Just keep any anti-fungal additives
out of the water. |
not enough |
| Collect rain water |
Rainwater has many good uses. You can use it to water the
garden or potted plants, flush the toilet, take a shower or
bath (if filtered some), mix concrete, wash laundry, do dishes,
take a sponge bath, brush teeth (adults only; do not swallow
rain water!!), make snow, etc. If you use rainwater for some
tasks you use less drinking water. |
significant |
| Use gray water |
Gray water (water that has been used but is not really dirty)
has some good uses. You can use it to water the garden or
potted plants, mix concrete, flush the toilets, etc. If you
use gray water for some tasks you use less drinking water. |
significant |
| Install gray water drain |
A gray water drain (= drain pipe that can be chosen to redirect
water that is still fairly clean but not drinking water any
longer) redirects some the the water you pour down the drain
and allows you to collect and use this water. |
significant |
| Fix dripping faucets |
A faucet dripping just once per second wastes thousands
of gallons of water each year. If it is the hot water faucet
you not only wasting a valuable resource, but also energy.
|
not enough |
| Don`t let water run while brushing teeth |
It is completely unnecessary and wasteful. It is not hard
to turn it off! |
not enough |
| Hand wash dishes with one sink/bowl full of water |
Hand washing can waste a lot of water, if you for instance
let the water run while you are doing dishes. However, if
you pour hot water into a container sitting in the sink, you
usually have enough water to do a good load of dishes, you
have room to pour stuff down the drain you do not want in
the dishwater, and you use less water than with the dishwasher
or doing the dishes by hand while letting the water run. Rinse
dishes in a bit of cold water. |
noticeable |
| Wash your car less often |
Every time you wash your car you create pollution. |
not enough |
| Let rain wash your car |
Rainwater is free and falls on your car anyways. If it is
a good rain your car will be clean. Not perfect, but pretty
clean. And you can help with a little scrubbing in the rain.
|
noticeable |
| Make sure laundry machine is full to capacity |
Running a laundry machine that is not full to capacity uses
more water per pound of laundry than one that is filled to
capacity (meaning just full enough to be washed well at that
setting). That is especially noticeable when you wash the
laundry with warm or hot water (which is something you may
want to change as well and wash only with cold water). |
noticeable |
| Oppose decorative fountains |
Fountains that spray or squirt water in the air waste water.
A portion of the water spray gets blown away, other losses
are a result of evaporation. The reason for the feeling of
refreshment near a fountain is that water spray is carried
away and you are in it. |
noticeable |
| Drink water from tap right away without waiting |
Waiting for the water to run cold takes a while. The water
you do not drink is wasted. |
noticeable |
| Fill water bottle at drinking fountain |
When drinking directly from the fountain with your mouth
most of the water dispensed goes down the drain. If you fill
a water bottle and drink from this bottle, most of the water
ends up inside you. |
not enough |
| Oppose golf courses |
Golf courses are tightly controlled semi-natural environments.
In addition to man-made pesticides and fertilizers (which
require a lot of energy and resources to be made and cause
a whole bunch of problems in the environment), they use a
lot of water if they are in an area that has little natural
precipitation. |
significant |
| Don`t grow plants that are not native to your area for lack
of water |
If you want to grow plants in an area that has little rainfall
grow plants that can handle those situations. Choosing plants
that need a lot of water results in you watering the plants
and wasting water that is for human consumption. |
significant |
| Use water of swimmingpool for watering garden |
If you have to drain you swimming pool do it when you can
do something useful with the water. Water the garden with
it. Could be bad for the plants though it there are too many
chemicals in the water. |
noticeable |
| Water plants in evening or at night |
Watering during times of the day that are cooler prevents
evaporation losses. In addition, watering during the day creates
water drops on the plant leaves which work like little magnifying
lenses and burn the plant. |
noticeable |
| Use soaker hoses |
Sprinkler systems spray water in the air. A lot of that
water floats away with the wind. Soaking hoses lose less water.
|
noticeable |
| Use salts to keep swimming pool water clean |
Some companies offer salts to keep the swimming pool water
clean. Those may be a better choice than some chemicals which
make the water useless for any other purpose. |
noticeable |
| Drink your water before you leave the restaurant |
It will get dumped if you do not drink it. |
not enough |
| Brush teeth in shower |
Saves some water (high estimate: 2 cups/500 ml). |
not enough |
| Put a stone in the toilet tank |
If
you put a larger stone (or water-filled plastic bottle, or large gold
bar) in the toilet tank you displace the same volume in water.
Every time you flush now, you use less drinking water. Do not use a
material that will fall apart when submerged for a long time (e.g.
concrete or clay brick) since this may damage your toilet tank or waste
water system. |
noticeable |
