Why Should I save Water and How?
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It’s a well-known fact that water is necessary for survival, but how much do you use? And more importantly, how much do you waste?
Water is being used constantly, in our tea, our fuel and even us, making it easy to forget that it is in fact, not entirely infinite. in the UK show that 150 litres are being wasted per person every day, so if you haven’t been conserving water, now might be a good time to start.
With Water Saving Week coming up, it’s easy to forget why we need to save this seemingly infinite resource, however water loss is believed to be one of the biggest issues for coming generations, so here are some of the few reasons to sum it up for you:
Climate change
This topic can seem like an excuse for anything, no matter how unrelated, however, there is more to climate change than you might think. With greenhouse gases keeping heat in our atmosphere, drought intensity is increasing and rainfall is less frequent. These small changes may go unnoticed, it has been revealed that by 2050, available water is expected to decrease by 10-15%!
Recommended Reading: Should Climate Change be Taught in Schools?
Money
Saving water can equal saving money, especially with a water meter but even without one, conserving this resource can save a lot of money, after all, around 18% of gas in a home is used for heating water and around 12% of electricity is used for showers and baths. So if you won’t do it for the planet, do it for your parent’s wallets.
It’s not infinite
You may have heard that water is an infinite source but when you delve deeper, the truth is shocking. Only 1% of the world’s water is freshwater and although it’s a lot, the growing population may cause it to run out before it is replenished. You see, with a rapidly growing population, clothes and food demand inevitably rise, however, what most don’t know is how much these essentials cost in terms of water. To produce one cotton shirt, there are 2500 litres taken in the production and you can imagine how much water it takes to grow crops and feed livestock. But what about plastic, the material you can find everywhere? The water footprint of one pound of this material is 22 gallons. Add up the water used in all your possessions and I guarantee you’ll be appalled.
Now that you are (hopefully) willing to save water, you may be wondering what heartbreaking sacrifices you’ll have to make, but luckily for you, there are five simple solutions listed below.
Flush Less
Avoid flushing tissues and other items down the toilet. Just one flush costs 1.6 gallons, so try to use a bin instead.
Cut down your shower/bath time
It may seem like a wonderland/concert combo in there, but do you realise how much is going down the drain? The average shower uses 20 gallons and the standard bath exceeds this, coming in at 42 gallons!
Try washing the dishes differently
It’s already a bore, I get it, but when the tap is constantly running, are you even using all of the water? Chances are, you’re not, so maybe you could try giving them a mini-bath in a plastic bucket, which might also make it quicker.
Fill to the Max
When using your dishwasher or washing machine, try to wait until you can fill it to the max so that all the water is going to good use. But it happens to us all when you need to do an urgent “I-have-no-clean-clothes!” emergency load.
Turn the tap off
Unless you’re using it, try to keep your taps off. This may seem like it won’t make a difference, but remember, every little drop makes a difference!