The only way that we are going to save our fresh water is by each of us making changes in our own lives and in our own communities.
We must not look at this water crisis and be so overwhelmed that we give up before we even start.
You will be faced with people that say “your effort will only be a drop in the bucket.” Your answer must always be “well if each of us put a drop in the bucket, then before you know it, the bucket will be overflowing.”
If we all stand up and work together, we can make a difference.
Take Showers Instead Of Baths
Take Showers Instead Of Baths
Conserve water by taking shorter showers instead of taking baths. An 8 minute shower with a 9.5L/minute shower head uses 76 litres of water. A full bath could use 150 litres or more of water.
Turn Off The Tap!
Turn Off The Tap!
Turning off the tap when you are brushing your teeth, washing your face or washing your dishes can conserve a lot of water.
Roll Out The Rain Barrel
Roll Out The Rain Barrel
Buy a rain barrel. A rain barrel collects rain water and stores it for later use. Instead of using municipal water at a cost to water your lawn and garden, you can easily hook up a hose to your rain barrel and use free rain water.
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous Waste
Dispose of chemicals properly at a hazardous waste drop off centre. Please do not pour it onto the ground, into the sewer or down the drain or put it in your regular trash. It could end up seeping into the ground at the landfill waste site.
To Fill Or Not To Fill?
To Fill Or Not To Fill?
When you are at a restaurant, ask your waiter to bring you water, or re-fill your water glass only if you are planning to drink it.
Go With The Low Flow
Go With The Low Flow
Install low flow shower heads and toilets. This limits the amount of water being used in your house or apartment every day. The average person in most African countries uses less water each day than what we use to flush our toilets. Your toilet uses 8 litres of water on average; they have access to less than 5 litres per day.
Full Load Please
Full Load Please
Only run your dishwasher and clothes washer when they are full.
Wait Until It Cools Down
Wait Until It Cools Down
Avoid watering your garden in the hottest hours of the day when water evaporation is at its highest. Putting mulch in your garden can cut water evaporation an additional 70%.
Watch Out For Road Salt
Watch Out For Road Salt
People use road salt to melt the ice on their driveways and walkways. When the ice melts, the salt usually ends up in our water systems.
Stop Buying Bottled Water!
Stop Buying Bottled Water!
Commit to using your own re-fillable water bottle instead of buying a one use plastic water bottle. It takes 3-5 litres of water to manufacture 1 litre of bottled water.
Fix Those Leaks!
Fix Those Leaks!
If you have any leaky faucets, toilets or showerheads in your house, fix them. The Saskatchewan Water Authority states that a tap that drips 6 drops a minute will lose 1,200 litres of water annually – the equivalent to 7 bathtubs full of water!
How To Wash Your Fruits And Vegetables
How To Wash Your Fruits And Vegetables
When washing your fruits and vegetables, use a pot in the sink to rinse them in, rather than letting the tap flow over each one individually. Use the collected water to water your plants or rinse the dishes.
Say No To Pesticides And Herbicides
Say No To Pesticides And Herbicides
Avoid using pesticides or herbicides in your yard and garden. The chemicals can contaminate ground water and streams.
Want A Cold Glass Of Water?
Want A Cold Glass Of Water?
Keep a water jug in your fridge so that you don’t have to run the tap until it is cold enough to drink.
Spread The Word!
Spread The Word!
Most people don’t know that we are facing a water crisis. Let them know the facts so that they can make changes in their lives too.
Get Your Water For Free When You Go Out!
Get Your Water For Free When You Go Out!
Have you heard of the Blue W program?
If you are away from home and are looking for a place to refill your reusable water bottle with clean tap water, then you need to check out this website – Blue W. It provides you with mapped details of what stores, restaurants, etc., in your community, that will refill your water bottle for free. No purchase required either! You just have to look for the Blue W decal in these participating shop and restaurant windows.
MAKE A CHANGE AT YOUR SCHOOL
If your school sells disposable plastic water bottles in its cafeteria or in its vending machines, you can help our environment by asking them to stop selling it. You can suggest that they install a water bottle filling station instead. It’s inexpensive, safe, clean, easy to use and much better for the environment.
MAKE A CHANGE IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Make your community a Blue Community!
Call your town or city clerk’s office and register to present at your next council meeting.
You have a right to have your voice heard and your council members do want to hear from you about how they can improve your community for the future.
If you are nervous about presenting by yourself, then gather some friends, neighbours or classmates and present as a group!
Depending on the rules of your town/city council, you will be given between 5 and 10 minutes to present. I can help you prepare for your presentation so there is no need to worry about the amount of time that you are given.
I would love to share your story and add your community to the growing list of communities who have joined the wave.
We want everyone to see that change can happen when we stand together. Together we can move mountains!
BLUE COMMUNITY PROJECT
A Blue Community is a small solution to our water crisis. It won’t fix everything but it is one step closer to cleaning up the mess we have made.
The Council of Canadians website states that a “’blue community” is one that adopts a water commons framework by taking three actions (see these resolutions below).
A water commons framework treats water as belonging to no one, and the responsibility of all. Because water is central to human activity, it must be governed by principles that allow for reasonable use, equal distribution and responsible treatment in order to preserve water for nature and future generations.
BAN THE SALE OF BOTTLED WATER
Bottled water companies are selling us our own water that we can get from the tap at a huge profit.
To manufacture one litre of bottled water, 3 to 5 litres of water is required.
As for the recycling of these bottles, an unimaginable amount end up in our landfills.
There was an article in the Toronto Sun that said “as many as 65 million empty plastic water bottles per year end up as garbage in a landfill waste site.”
In order to convince people to spend 200-3000 times what they spend on tap water, these companies say that their water is safer, but this isn’t true. Bottled water is regulated as a food product under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency which means that their plants are inspected on average only once every 3 years. Municipal tap water is tested continuously – both during and after treatment.
They say that they are providing a healthier alternative but what they are actually doing is selling us convenience. We can easily bring continuously tested, cheaper tap water from home like people used to do before bottled water ever existed.
We have to open our eyes and see that our earth can no longer support convenience.
We were all fine before bottled water came along and we will all be fine without it.
RECOGNIZE WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT
This means that no one should go without water. Everyone should have access to clean fresh water and no one should have to go thirsty because they don’t have any clean fresh water to drink.
PROMOTE PUBLICLY OWNED & OPERATED WATER & WASTE WATER SERVICES
When water and sanitation services are privatized, the company usually cuts the workforce, charges the customer more, and cuts corners in keeping our water safe and clean. So what comes out of it? The company gets a bigger profit, the environment gets ignored and the service is poorer.