GreenSage E-zine 07/2007

With no resource more precious than water, it is being wasted and misused. Safe drinking water aligned with a healthy and intact natural ecosystems seems like a no-brainer. Here's just a few things you can do this summer to change any not-so-good habits you may have.

1.First, save water. Fix plumbing leaks in your home. A dripping faucet can waste 20 gallons of water a day, a leaking toilet as much as 3,000 gallons. Its money and resources down the drain. Keep your existing plumbing well maintained. Its the easiest most cost effective place to start.

2. Shift some habits: turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving. Dishwashers and washing machines are most efficient when fully loaded. When hand-washing dishes or hand-washing clothes, fill up the sink and turn off the water. And, when washing your car? Make sure the hose has a nozzle that turns off, or turn it off at the spigot when soaping it up and drying it off.

3.Purchase water saving fixtures. Low-flow showerheads are very easy to install in pretty much any home. Install aerators on your faucets which also reduce usage. Using both of these techniques can reduce water usage by 15%. Some showerheads actually have a “pause button” which will reduce usage even further. When purchasing appliances, there are many choices for water-efficient dishwashers and clothes washers that can cut usage by 30% or more compared to conventional appliances. A low-flow toilet or dual-flush toilet could save another 50-80 gallons of water a day.

4.Bottled water may not be all its cracked up to be. Most tap water is provided by a government utility and regularly tested. (See the article on tap water in this issue.) Bottled water is not as well regulated and not all are from natural springs. One U.S. study, by the NRDC found that out of the 103 bottled waters tested, one-fifth of them contained synthetic organic chemicals. Plus, bottled water is more expensive per gallon than gasoline, and enormously expensive when considering its embodied energy. It leaves a huge carbon footprint from transportation and discarded plastic bottles. A simple installation of a water filtering system in your home can resolve this complex ecological issue and save you money.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and give pause to the issues of water whenever you use it — whether you're at the beach, at the office or at home. Changing habits is easy when you take on just a few new ones at a time. Together we make a huge difference. Together we are the ones.