It is hard to think about preserving H2O if it’s so readily available but with the increasing amount of droughts each year (that deplete municipal water supplies) it’s becoming vitally important to do so. According to National Geographic, Americans on average use about 70 gallons of H2O per person per day (inside) and about 100 gallons for the outdoor activities and tasks.
Think of this: you could fill up 2,444 glasses just brushing teeth, watering lawns or washing dishes but we really only need a fraction to perform all theses tasks successfully. Cutting down water consumption by taking a few easy steps will save enough H2O to supply clean drinking water to 237 people! The following tips will help you save both water and money.
KITCHEN
- Scrape dishes instead of rinsing before loading the dishwasher—pre-rinsing really only wastes water (about 20 gallons per day). Scrape the food into the garbage bins or compost it.
- Don’t use the garbage disposal—instead throw food scraps and leftovers into the thrash bin or use it as compost. Using garbage disposal wastes about 2 gallons per day since you have to run water to flush the pipes.
- Run the dishwasher with full loads only—it will save you about 15 gallons for each load. Half loads waste not only water but energy and money as well.
- Stop the bottled water use—research shows that it takes 3 liters of H2O to make 1 liter of bottled water because of the process of a making plastic bottles. Use tab instead, and if the quality of it isn’t satisfying to you, use the filters (either on the faucet or the filtered pitchers).
BATHROOM
- Collect and reuse the ‘warm-up’ water—we usually waste about 6.35 gallons just by running the H2O for it to warm up. This water could be used for a number of things, e.g. watering lawns, plants or rinsing dishes.
- Reduce the length of showers—reducing the shower length to 5 minutes will save nearly 9 gallons and if you turn the water off while soaping, it will save you even more!
- Turn the water off while brushing teeth—running H2O for 2 minutes (the time it takes to brush your teeth) twice a day wastes about 8.8 gallons. Instead fill a glass or cup to rinse your teeth and toothbrush.
- Stop the leaks—leaky faucets and toilets waste as much as 9.5 gallons a day!
OUTSIDE
- Use waterless car washes—about 140 gallons are used while washing your car in the driveway. Instead use the waterless car wash products that are becoming more popular. However, if your car is extremely dirty, go to a commercial wash, which uses 40 gallons per car and the waterwaste is directed to treatment plants instead of a storm drain.
- Get an automatic shutoff nuzzle for your hose—on average a 15-minute soak wastes 120 gallons but using a nuzzle with an automatic shutoff, you can cut it to 48 gallons for the same amount of time. Besides, most people waste about 50% of the H2O used on plants due to overwatering and evaporation.
- Sweep or rake instead hosing down—hosing down your driveways, sidewalks, patios etc wastes about 120 gallons and it sends chemicals, such as pesticides or motor oil down the drain.
great article.
i prefer using Detail Magic waterless wash and wax. All you do is spray it on and wipe it off. what you’re left with is a really nice shine that will last a few weeks.
the best part about it is that you won’t waste a single drop of water while doing this. i get mine at home depot and one bottle will usually wash about 6-10 cars. great product!
[...] For more information on ways to conserve water in you house (inside and outside) and why it is so crucial, read my article entitled “Conserving Water is Vitally Important” [...]