How did I do on only 10L of water a day?

Here’s the challenge! 22 March is World Water Day.

22/03: I have 10L of water in this beautiful Giorgio Armani jerry can, to last me the.whole.day. If you look at the stats on how much water we use doing simple mindless things EVER-DAY, you’ll see why I’m panicking slightly.

• The eco flush option on a toilet uses up to 4L, the usual flush uses about 9L.
• The average 8 minute shower uses 65L (WHAAAT).
• Brushing teeth uses 5L per minute (if you let the water flow).
• Having a bath? That’s a tidy 60 -120L.
• Washing machine uses between 40 – 170L (depending on machine and load).
• Dishwashing machine 20 – 50L.
• Washing your hands? Anwhere from 3 – 10L depending on how much you enjoy a good hand scrub I guess…
• …(and this is a drop in the ocean, pun intended, when compared to any outdoor watering!)

Many stats I researched are different and it’s hard to nail down exactly what you use, but OH MAN, given a jerry can of 10L immediately puts it into perspective.

Here’s a brief breakdown of my day with 10L:

7am – got up and changed a groooooss nappy and washed my hands. OOPS! Where is my jerry can?? Surely that was about a 1L of water I used there – without thinking. Get in the game Debbie. The day hasn’t even started and you’re down to 9L.

(My littlie’s bed linen was dirty and so I put it next to the washing machine but didn’t dare turn it on, I was too terrified. Sure, I could have (should have) spot cleaned it, but I had to hurry off to work. Linen remained dirty.)

Mid Morning – flushing the toilet, drinking water and hand washing. And I’m on 4L left. Oh great. I couldn’t not flush for the sake of the rest of the office and I washed my hand under a drip-drip-dripping tap. Water must be drunk. I’m pregnant, as us preggies need our water.

Lunch: I bought soup from Woolies for lunch so didn’t have to cook. Fortunately I’m also not enjoying all that much coffee/tea this pregnancy and so the kettle remained empty all day. Another trip to the toilet (at home), I left un-flushed. Gross and all, but it was just a no.1 and did you see I had 4L left? Another drip-drip-drip hand wash and I’m on about 3.7L

Afternoon: Back to filling up my water jug, I’m down to 2.7L. Right, so judging by my remains, I don’t have enough to shower (definitely not bath!) and I can’t even give my lemon tree some loving. My lemon tree I’m hand raising gets regular loving. We popped over to a friends place for an Easter Egg hunt and 2 glasses of water were consumed. I’m now at 2.2L.

Evening: Another portion of Woolies soup and warm Ciabatta bread. (No water needed for the cooking process – which sounds great – but it just highlighted my privileged position of popping to the shop and buying my pre-made food). The rest of my water was used on tooth-brushing, hand washing, toilet flushing and prenatal pill popping. and voia la –  I did it!

Easy enough right? Not.in.the.slightest.

HERE’S WHAT I DIDN’T DO:

I didn’t cook, bake, boil, steam or make one hot beverage. I didn’t make kombucha, smoothies, ice lollies or juices (which usually all have some portion of water in them). I didn’t shower or bath. I didn’t wash clothes OR dishes. I didn’t always flush the toilet. I didn’t drink nearly as much as I usually do, or would have liked. I didn’t wash my face, shave my legs, or pop my feet in a spa bath. I certainly didn’t water any plants or switch the garden system on.

23/03: And so, this morning while the washing machine was on, and I was having a nice hot un-rushed and guilt-free shower, I was made to think about the millions (MILLIONS) that go without clean, easy accessible and always available water. It is a GIFT that we SO easily take for granted. I dare you to try live on 10L of water in 1 day and, boy oh boy, will it open your eyes to how unlimited water is such a normal part of our lives, and how quickly we forget its value.

What can we do? BE AWARE of your waster usage. Don’t be ignorant. Look at starting a campaign or donating a monthly amount to an organization such as Charity Water. You can also read more about Giorgio Armani’s partnership with the UNICEF Top Project here.

Go on, give the 1 day 10L challenge a try. I promise, you’ll be changed.