Good morning water warriors
So the 25-litre-per-day water conservation challenge is over and I'm back to using the shower, washing machine and dishwasher. The novelty of showering has still not yet worn off, I love each and every one! Though something I have kept up with is catching the shower water as it heats up in a bucket - I find it takes about 6 litres before the water runs hot - perfect to pour into the tank for one toilet flush! I was thrilled at the media uptake of the challenge and feel like I reached a wide audience. And survived many an attack on my personal hygiene!
Thank you for your interest, and thank you to those of you who pledged to reduce your own water consumption during March. I am pleased to report that collectively, your pledges added up to:
38,223 litres of water saved!
This is awesome, you should all be very proud of yourselves! And this is just those in Saskatchewan who pledged water to me. Bear in mind that there were another 9 people doing this challenge along with me across Canada, Japan and Indonesia. I’m sure with all the pledges that other participants gathered, we saved hundreds of thousands of litres of water. As well as leaving that water in the river for ecosystems to use, you have all saved a great deal of environmental and financial cost of pumping and treating all that water and then the cost of treating it again at the sewage treatment plant (80 – 90% of water that comes into your home is not consumed – ie it goes down the drain and needs to be treated again before discharge to the river).
In terms of my own personal water savings – its hard to calculate as I have no idea how much water I used before I began the challenge. But going by the Canadian average of 329 litres of water per day (I’m sure I use much less in an average day but having no other figure, this is the best I can do)……..
I finished the month with 114 litres of water “banked” – ie by not using my whole 25 litre allotment. Keeping this in mind, I saved a total of 9,588 litres in March!
With 10 people participating this year, there is definitely potential to make the challenge an annual thing. I will be back in New Zealand by this time next year, thus widening the scope of the challenge. I’ll keep the Facebook group active (search for "Shutting off the Tap") and will keep you posted early next year.
I believe that within my life time, there will be a transition from wars over oil, to wars over water. In fact it’s already begun…but that’s another story.
Cheers and keep saving that water!
Alina
Showing posts with label Shutting off the Tap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shutting off the Tap. Show all posts
When I travel I always bring my own buckets...
Today is Day 16 of the Water Conservation Challenge and marks my halfway point! Yay!
The last week has presented some unique challenges. Living on 25 litres of water is difficult at home, but on a being on the road in motel rooms presents a whole new set of challenges. Neither of the places I stayed at had a kettle with which to heat water, nor a microwave. I was travelling for work in northern Saskatchewan and services are not quite what they are in more populated areas. Luckily I was accompanied by a masters student who was conducting acid rain research in the area, so was able to ask him to fill a bucket with hot water for me while he showered.
The bane of my existence last week was the unseasonably warm spring weather up in La Loche. Almost all the snow in town has melted and paved areas off main roads are not all that common. My jeans, gloves and shoes got pretty muddy on my first day and will definitely need washing. After one day in town I had the sense to go everywhere in Sorels (for those not from Canada, these are big chunky rubber winter boots). They were three sizes too big for me, and I did some serious leg muscle building hauling them around town, but it helped to keep things at least reasonably clean!
I’ve been a bit behind with uploading the videos and blogs, so here’s a whole bunch at once:
How can you measure how much water your toilet tank uses per flush? Click here:
Greywater recycling, click here:
Doing laundry on a water diet:
Alina
The last week has presented some unique challenges. Living on 25 litres of water is difficult at home, but on a being on the road in motel rooms presents a whole new set of challenges. Neither of the places I stayed at had a kettle with which to heat water, nor a microwave. I was travelling for work in northern Saskatchewan and services are not quite what they are in more populated areas. Luckily I was accompanied by a masters student who was conducting acid rain research in the area, so was able to ask him to fill a bucket with hot water for me while he showered.
The bane of my existence last week was the unseasonably warm spring weather up in La Loche. Almost all the snow in town has melted and paved areas off main roads are not all that common. My jeans, gloves and shoes got pretty muddy on my first day and will definitely need washing. After one day in town I had the sense to go everywhere in Sorels (for those not from Canada, these are big chunky rubber winter boots). They were three sizes too big for me, and I did some serious leg muscle building hauling them around town, but it helped to keep things at least reasonably clean!
I’ve been a bit behind with uploading the videos and blogs, so here’s a whole bunch at once:
How can you measure how much water your toilet tank uses per flush? Click here:
Greywater recycling, click here:
Doing laundry on a water diet:
Alina
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