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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Water Conservation

It is imperative that we protect all that we rely on to survive. This includes clean water, clean air, productive farmland, biodiversity and reforestation. But of all of our natural resources, water is the most essential. However, the available supply is diminishing rapidly as human populations grow and inefficiently drain our precious fresh water aquifers.

The good news is that we can all do our part to conserve water by taking simple measures and such steps can be relatively easy and pain-free. A more sustainable path is to use the water that we have wisely. The first and most sensible thing to do is to make sure that any leaks or drips in your house are fixed to avoid constant water loss.

Other tips involve waiting for a full load of laundry before running your machine or wetting your toothbrush when brushing your teeth and then turning the water off until you are ready to rinse. Do you realize that you are wasting up to 3 gallons of water for every 30 seconds that you leave the tap running while brushing your teeth?

Another idea is not to turn on the shower until you are ready to get in or even get your body wet in the shower and then turn the water off while you soap up, and then turn it back on to rinse off. You could also invest in a water saving showerhead that provides a nice strong spray but uses less water than traditional showerheads.

There are also conservation ideas for water usage outside the home. Instead of using just a simple hose, connect a sprayer to your garden hose so that when watering plants you save one water usage. If you use low spray sprinklers early in the mornings and late in the evenings, the water has less chance of evaporating. Or even better, use a cistern to collect rainwater for watering your plants. Another tip for watering you plants – use the water that you have boiled vegetables in after the water has cooled. This will add some nutrients to the water.

Theses sustainable measures are not ludicrous. They are simple choices for anyone that wants to conserve the water they use in their daily lives. The benefits of these tips are twofold: reduce your water usage while saving on your water bill.

Lisa Emery, B.A. is currently living in Amherst. Lisa invites comments to her columns. You can contact Lisa at: emeryvine@gmail.com. Follow her on her website at: http://emeryvine.webs.com or view her blog at http://emeryvinegrapevine.blogspot.com

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