There really are so many ways we can conserve water, ranging from easy to hard, free to more costly. I could probably do an entire 31 days just on that! But I'm not gonna, 1 31 days series a year is enough for me haha!!
Water is so available to us, we don't think twice about it when we use it; we take it for granted. It's there, it's free (unless you pay a water tax), so why not use it? Once again, it's when we waste too much of it, too needlessly, that the problem arises.
The other problem is that of the freshwater we have available, a good portion of it is now too contaminated with polluants, or trash, to be drinkable. We are using up the earth's freshwater supply too quickly, and there isn't very much of it available (only 1% according to water.org), so we really need to be more careful!
Here are some ways you can help conserve water every day.
1. Close faucets when not being directly used. That means closing it while brushing your teeth, rinsing produce, etc!!
2. Fix leaky faucets. It may not seem like a lot, but it accumulates when it's constantly dripping.
"Every year, the average American household leaks 10,000 gallons of water. That's enough to shower 600 times or wash 280 loads of laundry." - from Earth 911
3. Install a dual flush toilet, or change for a toilet with a smaller tank capacity, or if you can't (cuz you live in a rented apartment like me), put a full water bottle in the tank so it doesn't need as much to fill up.
(Photo credit)
I believe that some states will pay back 100$ if you switch your toilet, even! How's that for incentive?
You don't even need to buy a whole new toilet, they sell kits that you can just install inside your existing toilet! Didn't even know this before I read it on Young House Love.
4. Change your shower head(s) to a low debit one.
5. Install an aerator on faucets.
6. Collect rainwater during the summer to water your plants.
from Mini Manor Blog
7. Collect water when washing vegetables and such to water your indoor plants. I've been doing this for a while. When I soak lettuce, that's enough to water all my plants for that day, and I only need to water twice a week.
8. Only (or as much as possible) start the dishwasher when it is full.
9. Only (or as much as possible) do full loads of laundry.
10. Switch to a front loading washing machine. They use on average 3 times less water than top loading ones.
11. Take shorter showers, and opt for showers instead of baths.
12. Take showers and/or bath with spouse/partner. I LOVE my baths, I'm sad when it's summer and warm and I can't take them. But I know how much water this wastes. So I only do it when my boyfriend joins me. He raises the water level like woah! haha!
13. Do your dishes in a small basin instead of filling up the whole sink. Have an other basin to rinse instead of always turning on the faucet to rinse.
There are many more ways you can reduce water waste, you just gotta be willing to put in a bit of effort. Got any more ideas?
I party at these parties.
...put a full water bottle in the tank so it doesn't need as much to fill up. I read somewhere that you can do this same thing with a bottle of vinegar with a hole punched in the lid and it will keep the bowl clean (like those blue bowl cleaners) but it is pet/kid safe. So it cleans safely and saves water!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you’ve been doing all these! I have a suggestion, though, and this can probably be effective for a whole year, without you doing significantly big chores. :D I’m sure you have a lawn. It would be cool to plant water-efficient plants on it, like Juniper, Fountain grass, even Lavender! These are drought tolerant plants, and you can save more or less 550 gallons a year with these! :D -->Lorenza Coon
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