I can distinctly remember my parents teaching me to turn the water off between wetting my hands, lathering them with soap and rinsing them off: “No need to keep the water running that whole time, there are people dying of thirst somewhere in the world!” they would tell me. And so to this day I have the water running for as little amount of time as possible. And I realize that people dying of thirst in some foreign land is very far removed from our day to day life, but really, its all the same water and the more we can preserve the better for everyone in the long run. For those being water metered it is obviously an immediate savings. For those who aren’t, like us for the time being, its an investment in the future. The more water we use, the more water has to be treated, and the more water has to be treated, the more it costs tax payers in the end. So best to turn off the tap.
photo credit: charles chan *
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If you live in a dry area this is more important since excessive water use can lower the water table and have other ill effects. I personally don’t like it when people leave the faucet on full blast only in order for the water to go straight into the drain (when brushing teeth for example), but then again I’m guilty of taking longer showers so there’s only so much I can say, here. :X
IIW we definitely need to work on your shower habits! ;) Stay tuned for another tip i’ve learned that while WEIRD can be quite useful!