It's International Water Day!

I'll share some facts that I heard on Canada's Weather Network today;
Canada has 20% of the world's fresh water resources

Canada also has 7% of the world's renewable water resources, and did you know;
60% of Canada's fresh water actually flows north?

1/6 of the world's population does not have access to clean fresh water -that's approximately 1 Billion people - the poorest of us all, without access to safe drinking water!

The world's poorest people live in the driest regions of the world, almost half the world's population!

How can you make a difference?

It's difficult to ship water and it's really quite heavy so it's not easily sent to other places in the world.

Use the water available to you carefully, thoughtfully and respectfully, keep in mind what some people might take for granted others pray for desperately!

But don't sit around feeling guilty if you're living in a water affluent society!

Instead, try making little changes in the way you do things; look for creative ways to conserve water in your household. Here are a few suggestions;

You may have a few tricks of your own to add to this list!

Feel free to comment and add to the information, we'll all benefit in the end.

If you don't have a toilet designed to use less water be sure to install a brick or other suitable object to displace some of the water in your tank and reduce usage that way. Or better yet...Flush your toilet using "grey water" when you can; The water left over from a bath or shower, from mopping floors and washing dishes can all be used effectively to flush a toilet and is one of the bad oversights our forefathers had when designing home plumbing systems and toilets. We don't put our "grey water" to good use though we could with some major overhauls in the way our homes and infra-structures are designed.

Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth, an easy water saving trick that people just as easily forget! Same with hand washing or shaving!

Don't waste the water you "run" while waiting for it to get cold or hot - use it to rinse things, to fill the dog or cat dish, to water your plants, to fill the kettle for your next cup of tea. If you want cool water for drinking keep a jug  handy in the fridge and fill it regularly.

Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it, but don't over fill it as that can lead you to need to wash the dishes twice which is not a savings of water, electricity or your own energy! If washing dishes by hand take care to not use too much soap - the dishes won't need as much rinsing and you'll avoid the risk of dish pan hands or inadvertently consuming dish detergent that's still clinging to your dishes!

Turn the shower off while "soaping up", shaving or trimming and turn it back on again when you're ready to rinse off.

Try sponge bathing - rather than showering every day - Yes it's a North American "wake up" ritual and most of the time it is really wasteful. There are only a few people in North America that get so dirty that they really require a daily long shower or bath. As well as over-consuming water, the custom of showering daily dries the skin and makes our bodies more susceptible to the germs and bacteria that exist in the world around us, by lessening our natural immunities to them. Sponge bathing still gets the really dirty bits clean and if you perform the ritual in your shower stall or tub it can be just as awakening and satisfying and makes less of a mess of the bathroom floor.

Or try the 1 gallon shower challenge - this is one of my favourite camping games!

While it may seem impossible it's actually easy to fully wash up - including washing your hair (ladies!) with only one gallon of water or less. And you'll still be clean and fresh smelling in the process. When camping in some of the more remote and driest regions of Colorado and Arizona a number of years ago my daughter's father, Kurt, and I developed our 1 gallon challenge simply to avoid having to haul too much water around. It was good, clean fun and because we were in an area where there were no other people around we were able to tackle the challenge in the "great outdoors" and  keep an eye on each other to ensure there was "no cheating".(he! he!) Well that was our excuse anyway, and we'll stick to it! 

The biggest trick is to avoid using too much soap - and for the large number of people who get dry itchy skin this is good advice for it's often the soap that's drying the skin in the first place (water that's too hot and toweling oneself off too vigorously also contributes to dry skin). Use a one gallon jug, a plastic milk or water jug is handy to have around when camping. Start by washing your face and body first using as little water as possible, then wet and wash your hair and use the remaining water for rinsing your hair and to rinse your body at the same time.

Hey! if you can - go ahead and improve on that - try the 1 litre shower challenge if you're brave or hairless or you're not very dirty!!

So what ideas do you have to add to this creative list of water conserving ideas?

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