Tag Archives: water

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

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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.

Debbie Acqua for Life

  • 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.

aqua for life
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.

charity water

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.

For the love of the earth – save water!

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If you’re reading this, you probably have internet which means you are in the top whatever percent of the world and you have a good chance at getting your hands on clean drinking water. Consider this a privilege. How easy it is to forget.

Privilege like this demands responsibility. Whether or not there is a water crisis, we should all be trying to preserve water (for the sake of the environment and our pockets) but now, in South Africa, it’s crunch time.

Below are a list of ways in which you can very practically reduce your water consumption. Obviously we can’t do everything, but browse the lists and see what sticks out to you. Intentional changes become habits and often have huge results.

save_water_2

Reduce water consumption:

  1. Turn off the tap while brushing teeth, shaving or soaping hands.
  2. Take shorter showers and use less water if you bath.
  3. Avoid buying bottled water (as in, don’t create more of a demand).
  4. Sweep outside areas instead of hosing with water.
  5. Use eco-friendly soaps and cleaning products.
  6. Fix leaks at home & report public water leaks to the Municipality.
  7. Always use a plugged-sink or bowl instead of a running tap.
  8. Insulate hot water pipes to reduce time waiting for water to heat up.
  9. Install aerators and flow-reducing valves on your taps.
  10. Install water saving devices on taps, toilets, showers & sprinklers.
  11. Install a water meter and monitor your use.
  12. Install an instant water heater at your taps for immediate hot water.

Car:

  1. Wash your car with a bucket and sponge only.
  2. Use a hosepipe with a self-closing nozzle to wash your car.
  3. Use a commercial car wash that recycles water.

Bathroom:

  1. Shower instead of bath.
  2. Use less water in the bath.
  3. Bathe young children together.
  4. Flush the toilet only when odours make it necessary.
  5. Put a brick in your cistern to reduce.
  6. Install a low-flow shower-head.
  7. Install aerators and flow-reducing valves on your taps.
  8. Install a dual flush mechanism on your toilet.
  9. Install a geyser blanket for insulation.
  10. Insulate the copper pipes around the geyser.save_water_4_by_serso

Laundry:

  1. Cut back on washing your towels and linen.
  2. Match the size of your laundry load with water volume.
  3. Buy an eco-friendly wash ball.
  4. Buy a water-efficient washing machine.

Kitchen:

  1. Only turn the dishwasher on when it’s full.
  2. Use a plugged sink to wash dishes instead of a running tap.
  3. Use less dish-washing liquid to reduce the need for rinsing.
  4. Use a plugged sink to rinse vegetables instead of a running tap.
  5. Use the water you used to rinse fruit and veggies to water plants.
  6. Keep a bottle of tap water in the fridge to avoid running the tap until the water is cold.
  7. Don’t use running water to defrost food.
  8. Install aerators and flow-reducing valves on your taps.
  9. Purchase water-efficient appliances and water-saving devicesWater conservation

Plants & Garden:

  1. Learn about water-wise gardening.
  2. Water plants at the coolest part of the day.
  3. Group plants together that have the same water requirements.
  4. Water plants with the water you used in the kitchen to rinse fruit and veggies.
  5. Choose local indigenous water-wise plants for your home and garden.
  6. Adjust sprinklers to water plants and not the pavement.
  7. Cover your pool so the water doesn’t evaporate.
  8. Check your pool for leaks.
  9. Put self-closing spray-nozzles on hosepipes.
  10. Use natural and organic garden products.

FORWARD THINKING: Methods to check your home is leak free:

  1. Use your water meter to check for hidden water leaks. Read the water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water has been used. If the water meter doesn’t read exactly the same, then there is a leak.
  2. To check for toilet tank leaks, add food coloring to the tank. If the toilet leaks, the toilet bowl will have changed color within 30 minutes.
  3. Repair dripping taps by replacing the washer. If a tap is dripping at a rate of 1 drop per second, you could be wasting up to 10,220 Liters per year!
  4. If your toilet handle constantly stays in a downward position this means that water is constantly running. Replace or fix the handle to avoid wasted water.
  5. Insulate your water pipes. If you do, you’ll get hot water faster, avoid wasting water while it is heating, and also saving money on electricity!

Thanks to: for love of water for the tips and Designzzz (by Serso), www.occupyforanimals.net and Rainbow International LLC for the images.

5 effortless ways to go green TODAY

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We can’t do everything (yeeeowzers do I know it) but we can do something and so I’ve compiled a short, punchy and (hopefully highly) convicting list of my top 5 easy peasy ways you and your family can move towards a greener lifestyle.

  1. Use reusable shopping bags. Every.time.you.go.to.the.shops. Keep them in your car, in your hand/gym bag, and at the office. Get those cute ones that fold up. And for goodness sake, the reusable bags can be bought AT THE TILL of most grocery stores so you really have no excuse.
  2. Buy a long term water bottle or travel mug. Not only will this encourage you to drink more water, but instead of buying a bottle each time, you can refill the one you have which will save you money and unnecessary waste. If you feel weird handing your travel mug to the barista at your fave coffee spot, then why not try find coffee shops that use decompostable and biodegradable cups. You vote with your money, don’t forget.
  3. Turn off the lights. ESKOM is already helping us out in this regard but if you leave a room, get into the habit of switching off the lights when you do. Get solar lights for your garden, or LED, or energy savers. I’ve gotten into the habit of leaving solar lights on in the kids room so they’re never in the dark, and the bedroom light isn’t on for hours in the evenings.
  4. Grow your own food. Farm to table – it really doesn’t get much better. Fruits, veggies, leaves, herbs. This is not as hard as people think and just requires a little forethought. Make a space in the garden and get on it. Start small. Involve your family, eat from the earth.
  5. Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle (and compost). So many people think this is such a shlep (which it isn’t), and it eats away at their guilty conscience (which it doesn’t need to). Really. Get a big visually pleasing storage-something-or-other and put it in your kitchen and throw all your clean recyclables into it. Take it to your nearest depot or school, or you can contact certain companies to come collect (for a small fee). Throw your wet waste into a tub and make compost or Bokashi juice for your garden. Once you start thinking along these lines and form a habit, you’ll never go back.

The beautiful thing about each of these ways of going greener is that they save you money! Repairing something instead of buying new, refilling a water bottle, growing your own food, and lowering your electricity bill.

Protect the earth, improve your health and save money. That sounds pretty darn ideal to me.