Sure, it’s kind of neat looking and all, but you gonna’ miss it when it’s gone. What, didn’t think we could ever run out of water? Guess again. Did you know that only 3% of the world’s total volume of water is freshwater? (The other 97% is all ocean, way too salty to quench that deep down body thirst.) Yeah, 3% is still a lot, but unfortunately, 2.997% of that is locked up in ice caps and glaciers, or is too deep below the ground to extract cheaply. That leaves only, (where’s my math majors) about 0.003% of the earth’s water to be consumed by you and me…and the other 6.5 billion people that inhabit this blue spinning ball! (What do you suppose gives it that sapphire quality, anyway?)

So we’re all gonna’ have to do our part to conserve what we can of that 0.003% around here.

So….

Here’s Five Things You Can Do to Save Water:

1) Turn off the sink while brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your hands.

2) Reduce the amount of water it takes your toilet to flush by putting a gallon jug filled with water into the tank. (Can’t fit a gallon? Then you’ve got a weird toilet. Just use something smaller. Every little bit helps!)

3) Don’t do your wash until you’ve got a full load of laundry. (This one usually isn’t that tough for college kids. Chances are, your laundry’s on the other side of light already)

4) If you have to wash dishes by hand, don’t let the faucet run the whole time, instead fill one sink for washing, (if you’ve got a split sink. If not, a pot or bucket’ll do) and use another for rinsing. (If you don’t have two pots, you can run the faucet to rinse. Your karma will remain kosher)

5) If you’ve got a little bit of money, (I know, I know, I’m right there with you) you can invest in a water-conserving showerhead or flow restrictors for your sink faucets. (Really, they’re pretty cheap. No, I’m serious, really.) Check your local hardware store.

Remember-If you want to save yourself, you’re gonna’ have to save the world. There’s no way around it. Not anymore. Take care of each other. Tilnexttime.Peace.

Source: Miller, G. Tyler. 2000. Living in the Environment. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing.

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