It’s 8a.m., you’re driving down E-10 freeway towards Cal State LA, and you notice an electronic message board that says, “Serious Drought, Help Save Water”. It’s just another reminder of Governor Jerry Brown’s 25 percent statewide mandatory water restriction. What does that mean? It means we have to start making changes on our daily lives that helps our water to last.
Currently we’re at our forth-driest year in history since the start of January 2015, amplifed by the fact we only received 20 percent of snow this year. How did we get here? Many reasons! We’re having less rain which means less snow coming down the mountains and the rise of temperature affects our weather patterns. It’s not always easy conserving when we use water everyday, from showering to washing our cars to cooking. We tend to make excuses that we’ll start saving water next time or putting the problem behind our minds.
Conserving water may be big problem, but it’s our job solve the problem by doing simple things that help save water for the near future. It’s never too late to conserve water!
Here are five tips ways you can start:
1. Less Showers
After a long day, you’re probably thinking of getting a nice long hot shower to relax. You may want to rethink that. Take five-minutes instead 20-25 minutes to shower. You don’t need to shower that long to wash your hair or body or be in deep thought. You can skip a day or two of washing your hair or get dry shampoo and you can use a notebook or journal to record your thoughts.
2. Only Full Loads
Thinking of doing laundry this weekend? Do your laundry when you have a bunch of clothes instead of a small load. When doing your laundry in small load you’re using the same amount of energy and water of a full load. Instead of using hot water for your clothes, use cold water. If you have to wash a small load, change the setting of your washer to save water.
3. Dirty Car is the New Clean
If your car is dirty and it needs a wash, let it stay dirty. When you wash your car on average day, you’re using 122 gallons of water. You don’t need to wash your car weekly; you can wash it once a month or grab a bucket of water and sponge to give your car a nice wipe down. But, if you really need to wash your car for a date or other sorts, take to a car wash facility that recycles water. Just doing a simple clean will save 18 gallons of water!
4. Fill Your Kitchen Sink
You’re getting hungry and think about going to the kitchen, but then you remember your pile of dirty dishes. No one likes washing dirty dishes because it can be gross and you get wet from leaving the water running. Instead of leaving the water running when washing, leave one side of the sink fill with water to risen and leave the other side fill with water and soap. Not only you’ll get less wet, it’ll become easier to wash dishes now.
5. Inform Friends and Family
Aside from saving water, you can inform your family and friends to do the same. You don’t have to brag about how much water you saved, but give them tips or advice on how they can save water as well. Let them know how much they can contribute to conserve and making water last for the next years to come.
Now it’s the time to start conserving water because at any moment the water coming out of our faucet will by dry as the drought.