Looking for ways to conserve water doesn’t have to be hard. There are many small habits you can change to save a lot of water week after week.
World Water Day is March 22nd and it’s a great time to talk about new better habits we can develop to reduce our water usage.
The average American family uses about 100 gallons of water a day and a few small changes can greatly reduce this number and help us all conserve water.
Oklahomans know all too well why we need to conserve. We’ve had record droughts in recent history that caused big concerns for Oklahoma’s water resources.
Thankfully we are not currently in a drought and we are expecting a wet spring but we know all to well how quickly things can change. Making these changes today will help us if or when we have our next drought.
Easy Ways to Conserve Water
- Don’t let the water run while brushing your teeth, shave, or washing your face.
- Take showers that are shorter than 5 minutes
- Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full.
- Fix leaky plumbing fixtures.
- Use low flow aerators on faucets.
- Use low flow shower heads.
- When replacing a toilet use a low flow toilet.
- If you hand-wash your dishes don’t just leave the water running, fill the sink to wash them.
- Check for leaks in your toilet. Place a few drops of food coloring in the tank, leave it for a few hours, and if you see any in the bowl without flushing then you have a leak.
- If buying a new washing machine look for a water-saving high efficiency (HE) washer.
- When planting this spring look for native plants that are used to our climate and require less water.
- If possible skip watering your lawn. If not possible then water during cooler parts of the day to avoid evaporating
- Consider getting a rain barrel or two. This way you can save rainwater during our wet months to use on plants during the drier months.
- Raising animals for meat wastes a lot of water so try reducing your meat intake. One easy way is Meatless Monday.
Don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to do all of this at once. Pick a couple of habits to work on first and slowly work your way through the list.
The biggest thing is to be mindful of the water you are using and remember it is a finite resource that we must protect.
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