Saturday, May 10, 2014

WATER, WATER

The headline in Time said: "Almost two billion people will live in regions suffering from water scarcity and two-thirds of the global population will live under water-stressed conditions by 2025 according to UN estimates.

It shouted at me -- We've got to save water!


Do you try? I try.  Brushing teeth, one turns on the water, and leaves it on.

DON'T.

Rinsing hands, one turns on the water and leaves it on.

DON'T.

After a meal, I don't know about your household, but we clear the table and put utensils in a tall plastic container that's filled with water, and some liquid soap. End of the day, instead of running the dishwasher, we sponge-wash each utensil, then rinse them all together, set them in a drying holder.

Flushing the toilet --  you don't have to flush each and every time you use it.

DO (gently) remind other members of the household, to do the same.


DON'T take long showers -- DO make them shorter.

Washing clothes: DO larger loads.

Shampooing: Once your hair is wet, turn OFF the water while you're applying it. Turn water ON when it's time to rinse. Water OFF while applying conditioner. ON when you're ready to rinse.

DON'T drift into a contented reverie, enjoying the flow, and forget.

Picture people in other countries -- drinking, washing clothes, washing themselves in a contaminated river -- we've all seen those pictures.

Outcome Magazine has warned, "'Water shortage poses ‘global threat’ In about 40 years’ time, more than 4 out of 10 people in the world may be living in river areas in the grip of severe shortage.

Why post this right now, today?  Because it's time to wash my hair and time to do machine-washable clothes. My husband's hamper is full -- nine is full of black togs I've been wearing to stay warm (often used and washed so the color won't run). Therefcre,  his load and mine can be done together.

Look and figure out what YOU can do today, to save water.

DO IT. WE HAVE GOT TO SAVE WATER..


4 comments:

Cara Lopez Lee said...

Thank you for this, Em! This subject is often on my mind, and I'll address it in my next book project (after I finish the one I'm on). Love your suggestions. Another one I do is, whenever a bowl or glass in the sink collects water, I use that to water plants. A friend of mine keeps a bucket in the shower & when the runoff fills it, waters plants with that.

Carola said...

The world-wide water shortage will make oil shortages of the past look like nothing. That said: here in the Pacific NW we have too much water right now: torrential rains and floods.

Poet_Carl_Watts said...

Good practical advice. You omitted industral waste of water. The solution is create more fresh water :-)
http://www.carlwattsartist.com/Myth-of-Shortages.html
#KnowledgeIsPower!#AwesomeTeam♥#Odycy☮

Ameer S. Washington said...

I definitely try to do the same thing, but sometimes I do find myself getting lost in the ecstasy of a good shower. It's sometimes difficult to shed those old habits, being raised that way for years in years. I guess we have it worst in American and need to be the most responsible. Even the working class and parts of our poverty stricken population have more resources in abundance than many do in the world. About a year and a half ago I started recycling and maybe two or three years ago I started trying to water watch as much as I can. At one time the Roman Empire had everything in abundance and we see where that got them. This is an important topic any day of the week. Our planet wont be around forever and we less than this beautiful blue rock we car Earth. Best we try not to speed along the process of our inevitable demise.