Water Saver

This week I made an environmentally conscious decision: I took stock of how much water I was using and then found some easy ways to conserve. At this point, where I live, the water supply is plentiful, but even in cool and rainy places like England; there are times when droughts and shortages can call for water usage restrictions. While I am certainly amongst those who enjoy free flowing water, that is not the case for a large part of the world.

Currently, about one sixth of the world’s population doesn’t have access to clean safe water, and that number is likely to increase for many in the future. That is because the amount of water on the planet is unchanging while the amount of safe drinkable water is declining.

Friends, the good news is that we can all do our part to conserve water by taking simple measures and such steps can be relatively easy and pain-free. The first and most sensible thing to do is to make sure that any leaks or drips in your house are fixed to avoid constant water loss.

Other tips involve waiting for a full load of laundry before running your machine or wetting your toothbrush when brushing your teeth and then turning the water off until you are ready to rinse. Another idea is not to turn on the shower until you are ready to get in or even get your body wet in the shower and then turn the water off while you soap up, and then turn it back on to rinse off. You could also invest in a water saving showerhead that provides a nice strong spray but uses less water than traditional showerheads.

There are also conservation ideas for water usage outside the home. Instead of using just a simple hose, connect a sprayer to your garden hose so that when watering plants or washing the car, you save one water usage. Avoid over-fertilizing your lawn and if you use low spray sprinklers early in the mornings and late in the evenings, the water has less chance of evaporating. Or even better, use a cistern to collect rainwater for watering your plants. And the benefits of these tips are twofold: reduce your water usage while saving on your water bill.

Friends, there are many more ways to conserve water. I hope that my ideas have sparked some enthusiasm. Also, feel free to share the ideas with others.