Three weeks down! 49 more to go!
Today's topic is a fairly complex one that I wanted to spend a bit more time researching.
It's hard to think of water as a finite resource, especially when you live in Vancouver and it continuously pours. But, water is really a precious resource and clean fresh water isn't as abundant as we may think.
We use a LOT of water everyday. We need it to survive, to clean ourselves and clothes, we use it to play, we use it in mass quantities for the production of goods that we use every day. In many places, it is used to power our homes (either directly or indirectly) from Hyrdo Power, Nuclear Power, and even Oil and Gas Power Plants use water!
In England, the average person uses a whopping 150 liters of water a day! But thats less than half of what we north Americans use daily - we go through about 350 liters a day. Let's think about this in a global perspective, where according to the World Water Council, 1 out of every six people world-wide do not have access to safe drinking water, let alone an abundance of clean water to wash or use the toilet. Not that reducing your water consumption will help people in arid countries, but it really makes you think about how much we take clean, fresh water for granted.
Another interesting fact from their page, and related to my "Eating low on the food chain post": 1 kg of potatoes takes 100 liters of water to produce, whereas 1 kg of beef requires 13 000 liters of water. That really makes you think.
But, back to my topic for the day. Showering and taking baths (the latter of which is the least energy efficient of the two -of course depending on shower times) also takes an a large amount of energy to heat all that water, and, hundreds of liters of water go down the drain. A standard shower head uses 15-18 liters per minute (you can purchase a low-flow on that is easy to install and is more water-efficient).This water, then has to go to a waste water treatment plant if you live in a urban area. How long do you shower for? How much water goes down the drain when you shower?
If you have a well you need to think even more in advance. You need to consider water shed process and what is "upstream" and "downstream".
So, my challenge to you and myself is to shorten shower times. You can do this by stopping the water while you are soaping up, and just rinsing off in the end. Another thing is, you don't have to (and shouldn't) wash your hair everyday - every few days is fine, and it's better for your hair (google it!) I am going to try and keep my showers to 5 minutes or less, and shower only when I need it!
As I mentioned earlier, this issue is very complex and this post is by no means all-encompassing. There are a lot of resources where you can go to learn more about water consumption and conservation.
Here are a couple that I looked at for today's post:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=CD467AE6-1
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/beinggreen/117266.aspx
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25
The World Water Council says that water (and it's conservation) is everyone's business. So, let's make it ours!
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