Last week, someone on Reddit posted this “First World Problems” meme. Coincidentally, Governor Jerry Brown declared that California is in its driest condition since the state’s founding more than 100 years ago. The meme is sadly ironic, but it points to a problem that I’m not sure people are taking seriously.
Everyone needs water to survive, so we take it for granted that it will always be available. And yet, resources are limited and will become scarcer as global warming continues to change our climate. California receives 65 percent of its water from Sierra Nevada snow melt, which is at 17 percent of its average level. Governor Jerry Brown is urging each Californian to reduce personal water usage by 20 percent. Twenty percent!
The state’s agriculture and livestock industry is being forced to lay off workers and sell animals because the water supply cannot sustain their needs. Our native fish, vital for commercial and recreational fishing, and their eggs are dying in dried up streams. Small towns are enforcing severe rationing that requires businesses to cut water usage by 35 percent. Air pollution stagnates above the state’s busiest cities without storms and rain. It might even get to the point that California’s finest environmental protection laws will no longer be able to protect rivers, endangered species, and sensitive ecological systems as water instead goes for human consumption.
At what point does a looming environmental and economic disaster affect people so that they act differently? Each of us will be affected. So what can you do in your day-to-day life to reduce your water consumption? Here are some simple suggestions:
1) Turn off the water when you’re not using it. While you’re brushing your teeth, washing your face, and yeah, while you’re shaving.
2) Make sure your toilet is running properly and your pipes aren’t leaking.
3) Water your lawn only when it really needs it and in the early morning before the spray can evaporate from the sun; make sure you only irrigate plants, not the pavement.
4) Time how long it takes for you to take a quick shower and create a playlist that lasts that length of time. You will decrease your water usage by just being aware of the time it takes you to shower.
5) Use a broom to sweep the sidewalk instead of spraying it down. Plus, you’ll get a workout!
6) Cover your pool to keep the water from evaporating.
7) Wash your car with a bucket, not a free-running hose.
8) Only run the dishwasher or laundry machine when it’s full.
9) Save your kitchen rinse water to water your flower beds.
10) And if you’re really committed, when it’s yellow, let it mellow.
Think about the economic, environmental, and health impact that California’s drought imposes. What are you doing about it?
Janneke is a sunshine-loving and inspiration-seeking wanderer. She is passionate about people and their natural ability to stand for one another. She is driven to make a difference in what people really care about. Janneke lives every day as a creation and wants nothing more than for people to be inspired into action by what she creates.
After completing her Bachelors Degree in Politics and Philosphy from UC Santa Cruz, Janneke has worked as a preschool teaching assistant in Mexico, a food runner at a local diner, an office manager for a political party, and a Technical Writer for a manufacturing company. With her varied background and love of adventure, she cherishes the people she meets and the relationships she has created.
2 comments
As a Northern Californian, I have to say I think this list barely scratches the surface. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m very conscious (some might say obsessed) about water (and gas/electric/all resources) most of the time, but this list is good for a general, option reduction. This won’t get the average user the MANDATORY 20% reduction. It sounds scary, but it’s actually pretty easily done – at least in these parts. The big focus is on conserving outdoor water.
Where I live about 80% of water is used for landscaping and it’s said that 15% of the users account for 60% of overuse. To those from outside of my town (and other locales) you might ask, what?! Water wasn’t metered until this year, and the city of Sacramento won’t be until 2015 or 2016. The state constitution had to be changed to legally require metered water. So few people thought about it and only a few more do now. (I think there’s more complaining than understanding.) We have clay soil that only absorbs water for four minutes. We also have 100 degree days regularly in the summer and virtually no rain from April to October. People water their lawns daily, sometimes twice a day. Then they think they have to be watered for 20 minutes because they need so much water. Remember I told you that the soil only absorbs for four minutes? That means the rest of it runs off the lawn, into the street, down the gutter to the storm drain.
To a Midwesterner, it seems quite odd. My brother-in-law from Wisconsin was visiting a few years ago and went for a run. Upon his return he asked me if everyone in here waters their gutter. He noticed the rivers of water everywhere.
STOP WATERING YOUR GUTTERS. That should be the first rule. And plant area appropriate plants. A quarter-acre of lawn and rose bushes with Sequoias does not belong in a place where it only regularly rains five months out of the year.
Two should be “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” as toilets are the number one water user inside.
If you’re talking about saving water from the kitchen sink, it also makes sense to say to put a bucket in your shower to catch the water as it’s heating up. For slab construction this can catch gallons that can be used to water plants or flush the toilet.
Cover your pool should really become commonplace! For some reason, Californians hate covering their pool. The average pool in these parts evaporates 175,000 gallons a year. that means just 200 pools wastes 3.5 MILLION gallons of water each year through evaporation.
Change your fixtures to low-flow fixtures. My shower has a 2.5 GPM rainhead in it; it’s awesome. My kids’ shower has a 1.5 GPM fixture; it’s not quite so awesome, but their showers last forever, no matter how much I yell and I don’t have time to monitor them each time they shower. Also install a low-flow aerator at your sinks, especially the bathroom sink that is used the most. You don’t really need that much water to rinse off soap.
This drought is really, really bad. And people’s attitudes are adjusting to the reality. We’re on the third year of a drought. Things could be quite bad this summer, but they have the potential to get much worse.
People have to start thinking about every single drop and make the most of it. I’m sure that my Grandmother, who had five kids and no electricity, no running water, thought about her water use because she had to physically pump it from the well. Each time was a trip outside, whether it was 90 and humid or -10 below, whether she had twins in diapers, or farm chores, or whatnot. People used to think about their use. We need to start thinking about it as a matter of course.
OK, rant over, I’m jumping off of my soapbox. Whew. Can you tell I’m a little passionate about this?
Dear Cyndi,
First, thank you for your comment. I understand the need to rant about the things that we’re passionate about and you make many excellent points.
Where do you live in Northern California? Does your community share your belief system? Changes are made at the grassroots level, one person at a time. What can you do in your neighborhood to start a community initiative?