This month we decided to focus on the WATER - the source of all life.
Read what Nacho researched and presented for us!
Did you know, that
- Nearly 97% of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just 1% for all of humanity’s needs — all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community, and personal needs.
- Water regulates the Earth’s temperature. It also regulates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, cushions joints, protects organs and tissues, and removes wastes.
- 75% of the human brain is water and 75% of a living tree is water.
- A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water.
- Water is part of a deeply interconnected system. What we pour on the ground ends up in our water, and what we spew into the sky ends up in our water.
- The average total home water use for each person in the U.S. is about 189 liters a day.
But what can YOU do?
At Home
- On average, 38 liters per day of your water footprint (or 14% of your indoor use) is lost to leaks. Short of installing new water-efficient fixtures, one of the easiest, most effective ways to cut your footprint is by repairing leaky faucets and toilets.
- If you use a low-flow showerhead, you can save 56 liters of water during a 10-minute shower.
- Every time you save minutes off your use of hot water, you also save energy.
- It takes about 264 liters of water to fill a bathtub, so showers are generally the more water-efficient way to bathe.
- All of those flushes can add up to nearly 75 liters a day down the toilet. If you still have a standard toilet, which uses close to 132 liters a flush, you can save by retrofitting or filling your tank with something that will displace some of that water, such as a brick.
- Most front-loading washing machines are energy- and water-efficient, using just over 75 liters a load, while most top-loading machines, unless they are energy-efficient, use 150 liters per load.
- Nearly 22% of indoor home water use comes from doing laundry. Save water by making sure to adjust the settings on your machine to the proper load size.
- Dishwashing is a relatively small part of your water footprint—less than 2% of indoor use—but there are always ways to conserve. Using a machine is actually more water efficient than hand washing, especially if you run full loads.
- Eat seasonal food. It needs less
- Chose boiling instead of waiting for the water to heat.
