4Rs Tip for 07.01.2022 – Water Conservation: Even More Important Now

Ways to Conserve Water, Our Most Precious Resource

But first, I want to talk about my favorite climate activist and marine biologist, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, she’s also a writer, climate policy expert, and presenter of this inspirational Ted Talk. It’s only 10 minutes long and I hope it is 10 minutes that will change your life. It did mine. Please watch and share. For the sake of our planet.

Now, about water…

One Drop Saved is More Than None

What sucks is that a lot of us have been doing our part to conserve water, when most water use is by manufacturing and agriculture. But this shouldn’t be a reason not to save water, it should be a reason to speak out and force big businesses to change. You can use your wallet for this, too. 

Do the research and find companies that are working on reducing water waste. Buy from these companies, once you’re sure they’re making efforts to conserve. 

No matter what, every drop of water we can save makes a difference to the lives of future generations and how they live. Here are some ways to do that.

• Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth or shave.
  
• Make sure your faucets are turned off all the way. Fix drips right away. You would be amazed how much water is wasted from a drip.
  
• Take 5 minutes showers and take them less often. You only need to shower every day if you stink, right?
  
• When washing your hands, turn off the tap while you scrub and practice turning faucets on lightly with a low stream.
  
• Flush less – there’s no reason to flush every time you pee.
  Remember, if it’s yellow leave it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down. 
  • Each flush in a standard toilet uses 5 -7 gallons of water. 
  • Consider putting in a low-flow toilet when you remodel or build a home. It reduces water use to less than 2 gallons per flush.
    
• Reduce how often you water your lawn – it may like it greener looking, but looks aren’t important right now. 
  • We need that water to grow food.

Needs Vs. Wants – an important consideration
when we’re fighting for our lives

• Wash your car less and look for a car wash that uses recycled water. Or, wash your own car and control how much water is used. 
  • Have a nozzle on your hose so you can easily shut off the water when not rinsing.
    
• Only wash your clothes when they’re dirty or stinky. This saves water and reduces microplastic in our water system unless you wear only organic materials. If so, I say “thank you!”
  
• Cut out food waste. We need water to grow food and with one-third of our food being wasted every day, we could save a lot of water if this was eliminated.
  
• When boiling food, only use enough water to cover it. The rest is wasted water.
  
• Need a drink of water? Don’t run the faucet waiting for it to get cold. Keep a jug of water in the frig, or a water filter pitcher so you get the healthiest water for you and your family.
  
• Water house plants with the water you used to boil eggs or noodles, after the water has cooled, of course. Why pour that water down the drain? And, anything organic in it is nutrients for plants.
  
• When you hand wash anything, clothes, or dishes, use a bucket. Don’t run the faucet.

Visit Save Our Water for more on these tips and learn how much water you can save by doing some of them.

Kids Need to Know Why It’s Important

Help your kids to understand why you yell when they leave a faucet running. There are great resources online. Tell them NASA wants to help them understand and visit this site with them.

• NASA has a cool section on their website called Climate Kids. It covers everything climate and includes a page to learn about water and why it’s important. Explore Climate Kids with your young readers. Help them read, learn, and play games that will help them understand climate change.
  
• Check out this article on Teaching Children the Importance of Water for ideas and experiments you can do with kids to show them how important water is to their bodies.
  
• KC Edventures has this great article full of resources, games, and activities to help kids learn water conservation.
  
• Start teaching them at a young age how to care for the planet. Toddle has these great tips for games and activities you can do with toddlers.

There are many lessons our children need to learn about caring for the planet. Learning about water and how important it is not to waste it, is one of the easiest ones to teach them.

WATER FACTS

• All living things on earth require water. Without it, we wouldn’t survive.
  • Babies are almost 80% water, and adults are 50 – 60%
    
• Just 3.5% of earth’s water is freshwater that we can drink, and almost 70% of that is found in ice and glaciers.

An article by EcoWatch struck me with this powerful statement:

“While to many the climate debate may seem remote from daily life, the small decisions that we all can make—how much water we use, the products we buy, how we vote—are personal and possible. And they become easier the more we are aware of the consequences.”

Why It’s Important

We mostly get our water from underground aquifers, lakes, and rivers. And, we capture it in reservoirs, which are depleting from hotter temperatures and less rain. But it is limited and we don’t have as much as we might think.

There’ve been a lot of stories lately about reservoirs and water sources drying up. And like any of our precious resources, we don’t have unlimited amounts. Actions to protect groundwater are what caused restrictions in California and will potentially shut down about a million acres of farmland.

• I recently read about anticipated climate refugees in my home county in California, as tens of thousands of farmworkers will lose their jobs when farms shut down. Water shortages and restrictions will cause this if dryer and hotter days continue.
  
• My county is also sinking due to the depletion of groundwater under it. Since the start of industrialization, the county I live in has sunk 10 feet!

There’s a lot of food grown in the central valley of California. It’s scary to think what will happen if they don’t figure out a solution to our water shortages.

It’s almost reached the point where we have to either give up fresh produce or stop using so much water for other things. We can no longer have it both ways.

Mourning the Loss of Freedom and Protections in My Country

The decisions made by the US Supreme Court over the past few weeks scream clearly that they are not concerned with protecting my health or my rights as a human.

After last week’s devastating blow to our rights to choose what happens to our bodies, this week they stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to regulate power plant emissions. It’s mind-numbing to think this agency is there to protect our environment, yet has no powers to do that. 

These decisions strike a blow to human rights and the health of our citizens. I can think of no better reason to step up our fight for the planet and our future. 

I have finally realized why global warming became so political. We no longer have governments that represent what’s in the best interests of the people and our health. At least in the US, it no longer feels like we have a government for the people, by the people.

Time to Take Action

Visit Save Our Water and take their quiz to see how much you know about water waste, then check out their resources and see what you can do to help in your home and community.

It’s not taboo to talk about climate. Share these videos that might open someone’s eyes or help them see what they can do.

• The Film4Climate short film winner in 2016, Three Seconds is only 4 minutes long and well worth your time. Give it a watch! 
  
• Don’t forget to check out Dr. Johnsons Ted Talk. It will help you see how you can help Mother Earth.

With Much Gratitude

That’s it for this week. If you like this post, please forward it to every earth-friendly human you know. 

If you like this blog and find it helpful, please consider supporting my continued work here.

Drop me a line anytime if you have questions or comments. I love hearing from you.

Thank you for reading these tips and subscribing. Pat yourself on the back for doing your part. Remember, everything helps.

You got this!

Jen
jen.thilman@gmail.com 

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