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This month's suggestion: When you turn the tap on to brush teeth, rinse dishes, etc. turn it on a smidgen less forcefully- at least when you don't need that power blast.
Can this really make a difference?
To see if this could actually save any significant amount water, and also if it would make a difference to the time required to do the task, I measured the amount of water and the time required to rinse a soapy cup on 'full blast', on 'half blast', and on 'low blast' (very technical terms there!). I also compared the amount of water and time required to wash my hands if I turned the tap on 'full blast' vs 'half blast' vs 'low blast'
The results:
| Action | Time in seconds | Amount of water used |
| Cup rinsing- full blast | 20 | 2.055 liters (8 cups 5.5 ounces) |
| Cup rinsing- half blast | 17 | 1.420 liters (6 cups) |
| Cup rinsing- low blast | 24 | 0.887 liters (3 cups, 6 ounces |
| Hand washing- full blast | 11 | 1.331 liters (4 cups, 13 ounces) |
| Hand washing- half blast | 11 | 1.182 liters (4 cups, 8 ounces) |
| Hand washing- low blast | 12 | 0.562 liters (2 cups, 3 ounces) |
So, what does this mean? Well, first off, since I've just done one run of each action, my results are pretty approximate. More research is required. However, if these results are in any way accurate, what they say is that using a fairly low trickle of water increases time required by only a teeny little bit, and saves quite a lot of water in the process. Using a medium blast of water also saves water, and doesn't appear to require any more time. In fact, in the case where you're using quite a low blast, you could be using up to 50% less water, without greatly affecting the amount of time required to do your task. That could add up to fairly large water savings over the run of a month.
The bottom line: Choosing a lower blast of water will save water and won't waste your time. And no one will have to know. That's... secret green.
Is saving water really 'environmental'?
You might be wondering, at this point, if saving water is really 'environmental', since water is a renewable resource. Excellent question! Here's the story: when we use water, we are basically taking it from one place (for example, a lake or river or from groundwater) and moving it to a new place (like our lawn). When we're done with it, we aren't putting it back in the lake, river or groundwater that we took it from. Since water sources that we are taking the water from may have built up over hundreds of years, these sources may not be easily be replenished by a good rain or two. As a result the ecosystem that depends on that water may become damaged or destroyed if we remove too much water.
The good news is, if we use water more slowly, and supplement it from at home sources like rain-barrels, our main water sources will have a much better chance of replenishing themselves over time. In the process, we'll also use less energy and fewer chemicals in order to clean, transport and re-clean the water that eventually gets returned to the environment through the sewage system.
All content and images copyright Jen Schellinck 2007