Day 42 - Water, water everywhere

Did you know that less than two percent of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water? Or that only one percent is drinkable?

Did you know that the average American uses about 140 -170 gallons of water per day?

Bath: 37 gallons
Shower: 40 gallons per 10 minutes
Leaky faucet: 100 gallons per day
Tooth brushing: 5 gallons
One toilet flush: 7 gallons

Conserving water is one of the easiest things we can do to reduce our waste. Changing a couple of habits, and maybe a couple of appliances, can conserve thousands of gallons of water per year.

Here’s some good news: An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water
while hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons.

Other things you can do:

Run the dishwasher and clothes washer only when they’re full.
Invest in a high-efficiency washing machine.
Turn off the faucet while you’re brushing your teeth.
Take shorter showers (ten minutes or less), or turn off the water while you soap up and shampoo.
Fix leaks.
Flush after two uses instead of one. Don’t flush bugs, throw them in the trash!
If you must water your lawn, do it in the morning.

For more ideas, check out this site:

http://www.monolake.org/waterconservation/

Tip for Day 42 – Shorten shower time and save hundreds of gallons of water per month.