January 05 – Respecting the Earth: Fresh water is arguably your most precious resource – and the world is rapidly running out of it. Today, respect water by conserving it. All day long, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and washing dishes (wash them by hand), shower no longer than 5 minutes (no baths!), and only immediately flush bowel movements (“If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down”).

This one was a real eye-opener for me. First, the facts I discovered while researching the task: I was shocked to discover that only 3% of our beautiful blue world’s water supply is drinkable, that the majority of this freshwater is beyond our reach (locked in polar ice), and that over the past century humanity’s water consumption has increased tenfold. As a consequence, the World Health Organization estimates that over 1.1 billion people currently have no access to clean drinking water.

Living on a farm, especially one with a spring-fed lake, I was rarely conscious of how much precious, high-quality water I was wasting. How appropriate (and deliciously ironic) it was fro me to learn that by far the majority (over 70% globally; 42% in the U.S.) of the our accessible clean water supply is used to support agriculture.

This exercise really helped to remedy my ignorance, and it also helped me feel better while doing my part to preserve this most precious of all resources.

Here are some of my previous wasteful activities, along with some of the changes I made (& intend to keep making):

My major “water crime” is the long hot shower, which I often take twice a day during “heavy labor” months.

The easiest water-saving tip for in the shower is to install a water-saving shower-head (I already have one). Also, you can shorten the overall length of your shower by 1-2 minutes (this saves about 150 gallons of water every month), and turn off the water while lathering & washing your hair (another 150 gallons per month). Brushing your teeth & shaving in the shower can also save water (I did the latter already), as can placing a bucket under the shower while its warming up. This water can be used to flush the toilet or water plants. Avoid taking baths altogether.

I also was pretty wasteful in the kitchen. I do wash my dishes by hand (a plus), but tend to let the water run while doing so (a big minus). One solution to this is to fill one side of the sink (or a tub) with rinse water and use it for all your dishes. And if you do use a dishwasher, make sure it is full (but not over-full) before activating it. This tip alone can save up to 1000 gallons of water every month. Avoid using the garbage disposal at all – simply compost your vegetable waste to save hundreds of gallons of water.

Instead of filling individual drinks from the tap, consider filling a pitcher of water and leaving it in the fridge. This way every drop goes down you instead of needlessly sending a few drops per glass down the drain.

Finally, there are many easy ways to save water in the garden. Initially, replace as much grass turf with native species of ground-covers and shrubs (which can generally survive on rainwater). Do major planting in the fall when temperatures are cooler and rainfall is grater. Spread mulch around plantings to help retain moisture. If you do water your lawn, do so early in the morning (as much as 70% of sprinkler water evaporates before it can reach the roots of your grass during the hotter parts of the day. Finally, you can collect rainwater from your own roof to water your lawn & garden.

Yes, it would be nice to live in a world where water conservation wasn’t necessary.

And yet that is currently not the case. In actuality, a vast portion of the world’s citizens are without this priceless resource.

It is up to each of us to work together to use as little water as possible during our day-to-day activities.

Indeed, every drop we do not use is one more drop that remains in the global aquifer;

one more drop that the Earth can shed upon lands elsewhere in dire need.

Just remember – every time you turn on a faucet anywhere, you really do have the entire world in your hands.

Be gentle with Her!

See You when I see you …

… and until then, Be Now!

Scaughdt

Filed under: 366 Days of Kindness by Scaughdt