These days, many regions are experiencing drought — but not many people understand exactly what drought is. To be precise, drought is a prolonged period with insufficient water. While you might assume that means a lack of rainfall or abnormally dry weather conditions, the truth is that drought is most often caused by overpopulation and overuse of available water. Because humans are sucking up all available water, the environment doesn’t have enough left to thrive.
If you strive to be sustainable in other aspects of your life — you separate recyclables, you buy organic produce, you eschew plastics and you donate to conservation groups — you need to be sustainable an how you use water. Here are a few surprising ways you aren’t being water wise as well as ways you can save water in your home.
Landscaping Poorly
Your landscape is easily the biggest water hog in your home. Plants need water to survive — there’s not getting around that — but if you aren’t managing your landscape properly, you could be wasting an extreme amount of water every week on your exterior.
First, you need to be sure you are watering your plants correctly. Some plants in your yard might need drastically less water than you are providing, so it pays to research each variety of plant individually to understand your garden’s needs. Then, you should apply a layer of mulch, like wood chips or gravel, on top of the soil to prevent evaporation and send water into plant roots.
Sometimes, homeowners provide plants with extra water because the plants look unhealthy or sad. While a lack of water can sometimes be the culprit, more often plants start to die from other causes. You might need to apply compost or fertilizer to your garden; you might need to trim the plant or pull weeds; or the plant might be suffering from a disease or a pest. Again, research — or else a visit from an expert — is your best friend.
If you have the time, budget and interest to change up your landscape, it might be worthwhile to swap out non-native plants for those indigenous to your area. Plants that have always grown in your region have adapted to the temperature and rainfall, whereas plants from elsewhere around the globe need special treatment — and typically more water. Thus, choosing to landscape with native flora is water-wise.
Ignoring Leaks
One of the best ways to save water is to stop leaks as soon as they develop. Leaky faucets and pipes aren’t just minor annoyances; left alone, they will cause serious damage to your property and waste tons (literally, tons) of water. Whenever you hear an errant drip, you should immediately investigate and begin fixing the leak. It might be as simple as buying a 50-cent O-ring from your local home improvement store, or it might be as simple as calling a local service provider (or your home warranty provider) to patch or replace a pipe. Leaks usually don’t take much time or effort to fix, especially when you catch them early, so the sooner you fix your leak, the better.
Using Appliances Inefficiently
You shouldn’t trust that just because an appliance uses water, it does so efficiently. Appliances like dishwashers and clothes washers can waste an enormous amount of water, so you need to be careful that you are manipulating the settings to reduce your water consumption. The biggest trick here is avoiding half-loads; most appliances don’t inherently know how large a load is, so they will opt to use the resources for a full cycle. You can invest in top-of-the-line appliances that can sense the fullness of a load and adjust water and soap requirements accordingly, or you can save up your dirty clothes and dishes, so you only run full loads.
Being Indulgent
When most homeowners think of water waste, this is what their minds immediately jump to: running the water while brushing their teeth, running the water while washing their hands, running the water while washing the dishes etc. While it is a good idea to modify these behaviors, there are way more ways you are being indulgent with your water usage without realizing it.
Waiting for water to change temperatures before using it is a perfect example. Already, showers cost gallons upon gallons of water; every minute, more than two gallons of water flows down your shower drain, so the longer you wait high and dry for the water to heat up, the more water you waste. The same is true if you wait for water to cool from the tap before filling a drinking glass. A better solution is to face the improper temperature head-on — the worst that could happen is a few minutes of discomfort before the feeling normalizes.
You simply can’t call yourself eco-friendly and sustainable if you aren’t doing anything to reduce your home water usage. The above tips are relatively simple and easy to enact, so you can start being water-wise today.