Why should I?

Water is an essential resource for life on Earth, we need it to grow food, keep clean, provide power and most importantly to stay alive! Astonishingly we use about 340 litres of water a day each. Yet surely water doesn't need conserving because it is recycled and cleaned naturally by the earth's water cycle, right? Wrong. We use water much faster than it can be replenished naturally so it has to be cleaned and reused by industrial treatment plants which themselves use energy and add to environmental pollution. One third of the world's population is already suffering from water shortage and impure drinking water leading to extensive problems in health, sanitation and crop failure. To stop these figures rising we need to do everything we can to save water.

How can I help?

It's surprising how much water goes to waste when you're brushing your teeth, flushing a toilet or even just helping yourself to a cold glass of water from the tap. A few small changes to these everyday tasks could save litres and litres of water, which can be used to supply water to communities in less developed countries with a lack of clean drinking water and poor sanitation.

Action

So, what changes can you do to make a difference? Leaving the tap running while you brush your teeth uses around 10 litres of water, whereas if you turned the tap off you could cut down your water usage by 90%. So, first thing to remember is to turn off the tap while you get those sparkly teeth even whiter! A five minute shower everyday instead of a bath, will use two thirds less water saving up to 400 litres per week. Use a low flow shower head to save even more water. By keepin a pitcher of water in your fridge to keep it cold instead of waiting for water out the tap to drop in temperature could also save litres per day. Enjoy the bubbles of the washing up liquid and do your washing-up by hand. A full load in the dishwasher uses 65 litres of water compared to just 10 litres if done by hand. Get those drips and leaks fixed as a tap left dripping can waste up to 40 litres of water per day and leaks will waste even more. Make sure you tighten the taps and fix any leaking pipes straight away! These are only a few suggestions from a huge number of things you can do to save water in your home, check this page for more ideas and here for more facts and figures. Together we can make a difference. Let's all be water wise and start conserving water!

Rinse and repeat

After making these changes to your lifestyle look to see how much your water bill has reduced, you'll be amazed at the huge difference these little changes actually make. Don't forget to keep it up and also tell all your family and friends about what you've been up to. Get them all involved as well to do their bit to make the world a better place!

Want more advice in how to be nature's best friend in saving the environment? Check out MyAbodo's other guides or start a project of your own!