In the midst of the conservation frenzy over carbon and all the global warming flap something that was a hot topic less than a decade ago is beginning to be a bit overlooked. Water saving used to be a big deal, now everyone is worrying more about energy consumption. And that’s a shame really. Depending on who you are listening to we’re still in far greater peril of having water shortages than we are a huge temperature rise, yet we’ve lost the focus on saving water.
The truth is that no matter what your viewpoint is about anthropomorphic global warming, water is the most precious resource we have. It’s also one of the easiest things for people to haphazardly waste as though there was a never-ending supply of it. But there just isn’t. As populations explode the need for water saving measures grows.
And you’ve probably heard some of the easy tips for conserving water. Turn off the water while washing your hair or hands – there’s no need for water to be running while you’re doing something else. Replace old faucets and shower heads with newer, more water efficient models. Don’t water your lawn as though having the greenest grass in the city is the most important thing in the world. Those are the easy water saving measures that we used to be peppered with all the time, but if you dig a little deeper you can find other ways of saving water that take almost no effort at all and will hardly inconvenience you in any way.
One of the biggest culprits is that garbage disposal. Besides the fact that plumbers love them because they clog pipes and break down (leading to a nice fat repair bill for them) they are also water hogs. You have to let the water run to wash down all that goop that a disposal churns out – water that is completely wasted. It’s not even washing dishes at the time. Best practice? Get rid of the thing and just throw the scraps in the trash or your compost pile. It’s really not that much harder and will save you plumbing issues, electricity and lots of water over the years.
Another hidden water guzzler is your dishwasher and washing machine. Some models go through four or five fill cycles. Not that having clean clothes and dishes is a bad thing, and we’re certainly not going to tell you to chuck them outright. But you certainly want to make sure that you never run any automatic washer unless it is full to capacity. Two small loads of clothes still uses almost twice as much water as one big load. Besides, it will give you an excuse to procrastinate a bit while you let the dishes and laundry pile up.
Water saving measures don’t stop there, but you might not have thought about those electric convenience tools and how much water they simply drain away if not well supervised by a strict conservationist – someone, maybe, like you. You can cut down on your carbon footprint and be saving water at the same time by following these two water saving tips.
