Water
Water is a finite resource that’s both essential to our survival and in short supply. According to the EPA, every American uses an average of 100 gallons a day — enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses — so there’s plenty of room for improvement! The EPA reports the average household spends as much as $500 a year on its water and sewer bill which, by just making simple changes, could be reduced by an average of $170.
Green
- Don’t let the water run when brushing your teeth, washing your face or shaving. You can save 8 gallons of water a day or 240 a month by turning off your tap while you brush your teeth in the morning and evening.
- Take shorter showers. Don’t fill the tub up all the way when taking baths and immediately stopper the drain. You can adjust the temperature as you fill the tub. A five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water and it takes 70 gallons to fill a tub.
- Don’t let the tap water run to get cold drinking water. Store it in the refrigerator.
- When washing dishes by hand, fill the sink with soapy water instead of letting the tap water run.
- Avoid unnecessary toilet flushing.
- Run dishwashers and washing machines only when full. Remember to adjust load sizes when you’re washing clothes.
- Fix leaks and drips. Leaky faucets dripping one drop per second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water each year and a leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water every day.
Greener
- Buy low-flow showerheads and faucets. You don’t have to replace entire fixtures. For faucets, you can screw in an aerator. For showers, you’ll just need to replace the shower head.
- Wash your car by hand with a bucket of water.
- Sweep your sidewalk and driveway instead of hosing it down.
- Don’t pour unused water down the sink, use it to water plants or your garden, or give clean unused water to pets.
Greenest
- Install low flush toilets, especially if your toilet was made before 1992. The average American home uses more water for flushing the toilet than showering and could save more than 16,500 gallons of water every year by replacing a traditional toilet with a high-efficiency model. You’ll also save a considerable amount of energy. If 1% of American homes replaced an older toilet with a high-efficiency model, the power saved would be enough to supply more than 43,000 households with electricity for one month.
- Don’t let the water run when taking showers. Get wet, turn off water while you’re soaping up and then turn the water on to rinse off.
© 2008 Lori Bongiorno