AlterNet: How to Find Out if You Use Too Much Water

[marmar]

How to Find Out if You Use Too Much Water

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted March 22, 2008.

What's your water footprint? Add up your water use with the H2O Calculator.



These days the environmental buzz is all about carbon. People, businesses and even countries are talking about their "carbon footprint" -- or the impact of their activities on the environment in terms of the greenhouse gases produced (and measured in CO2). As we evolve in our consciousness about how our consumption affects the world around us, and what we can do to live equitably within the bounds of our planet's resources, we need to consider much more than just carbon.

A next step is water. Many of us in the developed world rarely give it a thought. We turn on our drinking and shower taps, and clean water comes out. We flush our toilets and magically, the waste disappears. We turn on our sprinklers and green lawns abound. We run our dishwaters and washing machines and fill up our pools and hot tubs, often without thought.

As our climate crisis becomes a part of daily consciousness, our energy future will need to match our water future. The two are inextricably linked.

And today, on World Water Day, it is the perfect time to ask: How much water do we use?

A new website, H2O Conserve ( http://www.h2oconserve.org/home.php?pd=index ), allows you to actually calculate how much water you use so you can begin to assess your "water footprint." As their site explains, "Your water footprint takes into account not only the water used in your home, but also the water that is used to produce the food you choose to eat and the products you buy. Your water footprint also includes other factors, such as the water used to cool the power plants that provide your electricity and the water that is saved when you recycle. You may not drink, feel or see this water, but it makes up the large majority of your water footprint." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/water/80444/

[marmar]

1. I just finished the calculator.....

.... My results are not good. I'm a household of 1 and I still exceed the average FAMILY's water usage.
:spank:

That's got to change.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. I am also a household of one, and come in slightly less than

the 'typical family'.

But I think it's slightly skewed. The biggest use was the meat & dairy use, but there was no gradation between the 'typical American' and 'vegetarian'.

I don't generally eat red meat, mostly chicken. And not all that much of that, either. So I should have rated at some mid-point between the two.

[Gman]

2. I generally just look at the bill

and it's pretty obvious from there. That's all I really have control over. Everything else is equal.

[Buzz Clik]

3. Why did they ask what state I live in?

Nothing about the questions, answers, or analysis had anything to do with my locale. It's not exactly a trivial part of the analysis.

If had answered the question, "Where do you live?" with Phoenix AZ or Los Angeles CA, the analysis should have stopped instantly and told me to move to a place that has enough water for its people. In my community, if every business, industry, and household dropped their water usage to zero, it would have no impact at all on those areas with less water than they need.

[electricmonk]

5. It was only off 500 gallons a day for me

I guess it's a good way to get people to think about their usage but not terribly accurate. It said my usage is 561.42 gallons a day but I actually only use around 65 a day.