You can make a big difference by conserving water most effectively
10 Things everybody can do right now:
1. If you put it in your mouth, learn how much water it takes to get there!
Here’s a quick guide to eating with Water Sense: plants take less water to feed you than meats. All land animals take thousands of gallons of water to grow and process, so eating meat in smaller quantities saves lots of water. One hamburger takes 2,500 gallons to get to your plate, and that’s just the beef!
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2. If you put it on your body, learn how much water it takes to make it!
All clothing takes water to make, water to grow or create the fibers, water to process the dyes, water to run the machines. Do you buy cotton? Cotton is a water intensive crop, so don’t buy cotton grown in deserts. Growers in dry countries suck lakes and groundwater supplies dry to grow cotton for export, leaving nothing for local food crops and fishermen. Ask where the cotton comes from before you buy it. Buying vintage clothing is a smart water choice. You save money and don’t spend a drop of water.
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3. If you turn it on, understand the energy-water connection.
Creating energy is very water intensive. Hydro-electric dams require reliable, strong river flows. Coal and nuclear plants cost billions of gallons of water to supply ore and operate. Even solar panels cost water to manufacture. Turning off unnecessary lights and unplugging “vampire” appliances will save water as well as energy.
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4. Think – Ask – Speak Out. Your voice makes a difference.
Companies that make your clothes and grow your food want to hear from their customers. Make sure they know that conserving water is important to you! Email or Tweet the companies you buy from asking if their water use is sustainable. Find out what they’re doing to conserve fresh water for the future. Make sure they’re not putting toxic dyes or pesticides in their local water. Then tell us what you’ve learned so we can share it with everyone else!
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5. Conserve water in your home and garden.
Conserving water at home can be as simple as turning off the tap and taking shorter showers. Fixing leaks in household pipes is also a reliable way to save water. New awareness about greywater systems, rainwater harvesting and garden permaculture is exciting and broadens our personal management of water resources.
6. Avoid single use containers whenever possible.
Like any product, a container costs water to manufacture. If it’s paper, there’s the additional agricultural cost of growing trees. It takes 17 trees to produce 2,000 pounds of paper. Plastic containers are made from fossil fuel. It takes 1,851 gallons to refine one barrel of crude oil. Then another 24 gallons to water to manufacture one pound of plastic.
7. Keep your car tires from polluting our waterways.
The average car has 10 wheel weights clipped on to the wheels and spare tire. Although the European Union banded lead in wheel weights in 2005, in the US there are no federal regulation. Many weights fall off, are reduced to crumbs on the road, then wash into our waterways with the rains. Switch out your lead tire weights for new alloys. It costs very little and can make a big difference keeping our water clean.
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8. Think about how sports facilities can conserve water. Talk to your local managers.
There are 16,100 golf courses in the US golf courses using 4.8 billion gallons every day to water the greens. In addition, pesticides and fertilizers can leach into local water supplies. If you spend time on golf courses, consider talking to management about sustainable water use. If your school is near a golf course, consider making a project to research the course’s water use and make suggestions for improvement.
9. Help people less fortunate than you.
You’ve heard that children living in poverty and water-stress can’t go to school because they have to walk miles for water. There are many fine organizations working to help them. Chose a group you like then give what money you can. Consider volunteering to help the billions of people living without clean water and adequate sanitation.
10. Learn as much as you can about water then spread the word. Teach everyone about Water Literacy and share what you know.
Since you depend on water to stay alive, doesn’t it make sense to invest some time in learning as much as you can? Read this website and share it with friends. We’ll keep adding new water information for you to learn.
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