Water Conservation Lowers Footprint Greatly
When it comes to your carbon footprint, there are many things people say you should do in order to lower it. Don’t drive or use a vehicle if you don’t have to. Don’t waste electricity or energy. Travel by air less. Stop deforestation. Apparently “conserve your water” should also be added to this list. It may surprise you, but 25% of US electricity consumption comes from moving and treating water. Think about it: water has to come from somewhere, whether a well or spring or numerous connected pipes; it doesn’t simply magically appear from nothing. If you live in a high-rise apartment building, that’s quite the upward climb of piping to go through. And if you live in an area where drought is common, tapping water sources can be even more taxing.
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To give an example of how great of an effect water has on electricity consumption, in 2008, southern Nevada used 835.8 million kilowatt-hours to move 439,197 acre-feet of water, plus 119.2 million kilowatt-hours to treat 22,501 acre-feet of water. One kilowatt-hour is enough to power a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours and one acre-foot is the equivalent of water used in an average Las Vegas Valley home over a period of 2 years.
Here are some tips to reduce your water usage and lower your footprint:
- Use a flow reducer on your showers and sinks.
- Get a low water-consuming dishwasher and clothes washing machine.
- Don’t bother watering your lawn; the water will evaporate and (pending on where you live) rain will take care of it for you.
- Never leave the water running when you aren’t using it!
One other tip: do not ignore a leaky faucet (or any other water leaks). It may seem like not much water is being wasted, but drip by drip can add up to 3 gallons of water wasted per day. Pending on the size of the drop per square inch, you could be looking at 1,181,500 gallons of water wasted in a 3 month period. I am sure the use of one million gallons of water would not look pretty on your water bill, and I’m not even sure if some people use that much water in the span of a year, let alone 3 months.
Try using these tips for the rest of the year (as a start), and your footprint should decrease, along with your water and utility bills!
By Heidi Marshall
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Tags: carbon emissions, carbon footprint, water conservation, water saving tips
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