By Alexandra Pettit AZFB Communications intern
During this pandemic many are working from home, kids are home from school, and everyone is spending plenty of time indoors. With this, there will be a rise in the amount of water used in your homes. There are plenty of ways your family can conserve water at home. You can even make this a challenge amongst the family on who can use the least amount of water!
Here are some ways to conserve water at home!
- Turn off faucets!
Turn off water faucets when… Taking a shower turn off the water when you lather you can save gallons of water this way. When doing the dishes fill the sink instead of letting the water run. Lastly, turn it off when you are brushing your teeth, this is a bad habit that I have I tend to leave it running and walk away! You would be amazed at how much water we waste when doing these simple tasks.
- Use every drop!
When washing your fruits, and veggies save the “Dirty” water. This leftover water is good to water our plants and garden if you have one!
- Take shorter showers!
On average if you take a 10-minute shower you use about 20 gallons of water! Try to cut this time in half by taking shorter showers. One way to do this is to keep a timer in the bathroom!
- Capture rainwater!
Another way to conserve water is to start catching rainwater to use to water plants and gardens. This might be hard to do year-round in Arizona but during the monsoon season.
- Only wash full loads!
This goes for the laundry and dishes! To wash a load of laundry it takes anywhere from 15-45 gallons of water! Think about that next time you wash a full load for one pair of jeans. To wash a load of dishes it takes anywhere from 4-6 gallons of water per load. You can even consider washing by hand to save some water.
- Eliminate food waste!
Lastly, try to eliminate food waste, because food waste = wasted water, due to the amount of water it takes to create your food.
Water Conservation Game!
Make conserving water at home a game for the family! Start by tracking each week! You will be amazed at how much water you can save!
Point System:
1 point – turning off faucets when showering, brushing teeth, and doing dishes.
2 Points- Take a 10 minute or less shower (don’t forget your timer)
3 Points- Only washing full loads of laundry and dishes
5 Points- Eating everything on your plate, eliminating food waste!