It wasn’t all that long ago that people were carrying their water in buckets. And that’s the case in many places in the world to this day. I guarantee you that if you had to slog along hefting a bucket ten or fifteen times to take a bath you wouldn’t just dump it out without a thought, but you would probably take a lot fewer baths. I’m all for a nice smelling society, but the instant availability of water at your fingertips makes it begin to feel like there is a completely unlimited supply of the stuff, but that’s just not the case is it? So it’s time you looked into a few simple water saving devices that will give you the ability to really cut down on your consumption without having to go without the bath.
You probably know (at least you should), all about water saving shower heads and faucet aerators. As a matter of fact, you may already be using them without knowing it. Almost everything made in the last ten years has been the low flow variety when it comes to shower heads and faucet aerators; so if you’ve replaced on of those in the last decade you are probably already saving water without even knowing it. But it wouldn’t hurt to check. Water saving devices such as low flow shower heads and sink aerators are a great place to start, but they aren’t the whole story.
A couple of other things you would probably never really think about when it comes to water saving devices are toilet tank displacement devices and shower heads with shut off valves. It’s one thing for a shower head to be low flow when it comes to how many gallons per minute it puts out, but you can really magnify the savings if you will shut off the water completely when you are soaping up. You don’t really need a special shower head with a shut off valve to do that, of course, but the do make it easy.
And then there’s the toilet thing. No one wants to return to the outhouse days of digging big holes in the yard and having to walk across the snow covered yard at 3 am to take a leak. But toilets are water flushing little monsters. There are inexpensive kits you can buy that really cut down on the amount of water per flush toilets use that can help you tame them a bit.
Combining all of these water saving devices in your home will cut down on the amount of water you use by more than half and will do so without you ever even noticing a difference. You don’t have to go back to the days of the outhouse and carrying water around in buckets to really save a lot of water. You can keep the convenience of modern life and still be a lot more responsible about your water usage at the same time. It’s not just smart to save money, you’ll also be doing your part to conserve the only environment we have.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I completely agree with your view on the matter of watersaving devices for environmental protection. The most water spending place is the household (toilets, showers, bath and kitchen). Replacing old-fashioned devices or installations with watersaving installations would save water up to 60 %. However, another factor is the industry that use water for food production or any kind of agricultural watering cost a lot of water and energy.
Political authorities should pass regulations to cut these exceeding water consumption or energy costs or make the installations ,mentioned above, obligatory.
You’re so right about that! Agriculture and food production industries (especially meat production) consume vast quantities of fresh water. But they are not the only water-intensive industries. Progressive companies are starting to take their Corporate social responsibility initiatives seriously and looking at reducing their water footprint. Well-thought out regulations would help to move the agenda forward.
Thanks for the inisght. It brings light into the dark!
Environmental issues like “how to save water” as an educational task
Water saving installations supposed to be obligatory for domestic households. However, beside all these devices, it doesn´t matter how many you have of them as long you do not start to rethink about your water consumption, it won´t change that much.
Environmental awareness should be taught in schools not as a brand new subject but as complementary course which makes pupils much more familiar with environmental issues. But how is that achieved?
Students should get into these issues such as wood clearing, excessive watering of golf courses, water waste in the household and lack of water in developing countries by dedicating to self managed projects. Young people should get in touch with complex relations between these hot debated global topics and e.g. renewable energies that concern everyone which is, in particular, referred to high decision makers.
So, there is much more to pay attention to than replacing old shower heads, taps or faucets with water saving devices. Young people are asked to get involved much more into these matters. My additional approach is an educational task by having experts on green issues in schools.
I absolutely agree with your comments. Changing our mindset and habits is essential if we’re going to truly make a difference. Education and awareness are fundamental to achieving this societal shift, starting with our young people.
BION I’m impresesd! Cool post!
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the best I have discovered so far.