Most Californians have been standing around waiting for El Nino to save us from this drought. In efforts to conserve water, rules have already become effective as to when residents are allowed to water their lawns.
The State Capital has also made their own statement by turning the lawn brown and promoting brown as the new green.
Yes, cutting back on watering the grass can help conserve water but what other steps can Californians take?
For example, in Europe many restaurants charge for water. Could this be an effective step to save water in California too?
Although it may sound like a good idea, it’s important to look closer at the issue: water isn’t the only drink consumed in restaurants and obviously every drink has a water base. Many restaurants have begun to only give water out based off request as well as the refills. However, soft drink refills are given without any hesitation.
Possible ways to prevent wasting water would be removing self-serve water containers. At Fullerton College, there is water in the cafeteria for students to fill their own water bottles where a lot of this water ends up dripping and spilling on the ground. Starbucks also has water out for guests to serve on their own.
It would be best to get rid of such things so that only the water by request is served.
Easy ways to cut back on water consumption are to also reduce shower times. Yes after a stressful day, sometimes a long hot shower is necessary, but that’s not very wise. The quicker a person showers, the less water is being used, and that’ll help save water easily!
Maybe taking short showers is a bit challenging, but there are still plenty opportunities to save water. According to saveourwater.com turning the sink off while brushing your teeth can save up to 10 gallons a day.
Checking for leaks can also help too. Make sure that sinks and toilets at home have no leaks.
Other simple steps include only running the washer and dishwasher when there is a full load. There is no need to continuously run water for loads that are almost empty. Hand-washing dishes is a good alternative to running the dishwasher.
Although there hasn’t been much rain yet, when it does begin to rain, it’s important to set up rain buckets. With the use of buckets or even trashcans will help collect the rainwater that you can later use to water your lawn. Saving rain water will allow you to water plants and grass without it affecting your water bill.
If everyone takes part in applying these simple steps, we can make a big impact on our environment. So next time you’re in the cafeteria filling up your water bottle, make sure to get it all in your bottle and not on the ground.
