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Easy Ways to Conserve Water (July 2010) |
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Saving water can reduce your utility bills while helping to protect the environment. Read on for ways to save water by making small adjustments in your daily routines.You don’t have to make major changes in your everyday habits to use less water at home, at work, and elsewhere. Here are some quick ways to save more water: - Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. A typical bathroom faucet releases about two gallons of water a minute. If you turn off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime, you can save up to 8 gallons of water a day, or 240 gallons a month, the Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) says.
- Don’t pre-rinse dishes before loading a dishwasher. You can save up to 20 gallons of water a load, or more than 500 gallons a month, by skipping this step, according to Consumer Reports magazine’s Greener Choices (www.greenerchoices.org). Tests by Consumer Reports found that pre-rinsing didn’t improve cleaning.
- Avoid using your toilet as a wastebasket. Toilets use an average of 3.5 gallons per flush if made before or in 1992 and 1.3 gallons if made after that, the EPA says. You’ll save a gallon or more every time you avoid using the toilet to dispose of tissues, makeup, dirt, or other small items that could go into a wastebasket.
- Carry your own water. Instead of buying bottled water, try carrying a bottle you’ve filled at home. It takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water, according to the Pacific Institute (www.pacinst.org), a nonpartisan research center, in part because making the bottles requires water. If you carry a 1-liter bottle each day instead of buying one, you’ll save 2 liters a day, or about 60 liters a month, nearly 16 gallons.
- Repair leaky faucets. A faucet with even a slow drip -- 15 drips per minute -- wastes almost 3 gallons of water a day, the American Water Works Association (www.awwa.org) has found. You can save additional water by installing a low-flow faucet aerator that mixes air with the water stream so that you use less. An aerator costs as little as $5–$10 at many hardware, home improvement, and other stores.
- Choose low-water plants and trees. Need ideas on what you could grow without wasting water? Check the free region-by-region list of low-water plants and trees that thrive in six major geographic areas at http://bit.ly/USDAloww.
- Water your yard in the early morning or evening. Avoid watering your yard or outdoor container plants at midday, when the sun is strongest, to reduce evaporation. Focus the spray so you don’t water your sidewalk or driveway.
- Look for the Energy Star label.Energy Star is the international symbol for appliances with energy efficiency. Learn more about choosing the right product as well as information on Canadian or provincial rebates and incentives at http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/energystar-portal.cfm
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