This week’s action is a very simple one; it comes down to breaking a habit.
To save precious water, just turn off the tap whilst brushing your teeth.
This is important because too many of us just take flowing water for granted; we need to treat it as a valuable resource and never waste it. This is one of those very simple things that we can all do. Remember, in many countries clean water is hard to come by, so let’s all use it with respect.
There are lots of ways to save water – some other ideas are in our library – but for now, simply turn off the tap for the couple of minutes you are brushing, then turn it on again when it comes to rinsing.
Simples!
Why is this important?
Water is a precious life-giving resource and we need to treat it as such, and not take it for granted. Our water supply systems take supplies from our natural environment and the disposal systems often pollute, so if we can reduce the use of water there is less strain on the ecosystem and our infrastructure.
There are other advantages to saving water too
- it saves money if you pay by the cubic metre, as most of us do in Europe
- it reduces the chance of water shortages during droughts in the summer months
- less strain on the water system means safer, cleaner, healthier water for us all
- you are reducing the use of fluoride and other chemicals used to treat water
How much can we save?
💧 If you stop the tap for 2 minutes you’ll save (at least) 10 litres of water
💧 In Europe, the USA and Canada there are approximately 1.1 billion people.
💧 Let’s assume we all brush twice a day and that half of us leave the tap running while we do.
💧 That’s 11 billion litres of water wasted every day. Every day!!
💧 That means 4 trillion litres of water are wasted every year.
💧 Or 4 billion tons of the stuff **.
💧 And that’s just from one tiny action … please think about this next time you clean your teeth.
** a lot!
Take action
Please take action: reducing our water usage is critical to our future.
If you haven’t done so already, please sign up to our bulletin “Take Action” using the form below, and thank you for your support.