The Water Challenge Chronicles – Jon, Week 3

Wow, this has been a long week–one that seems will never end. Due to various work-related demands, focusing my energies on the Water Challenge has been especially difficult. I am also discovering the limitations of my own abilities to reasonably cut my water use. Seeing that I rent an apartment and therefore have fewer wasteful habits to begin with, as well as less control over the changes I can enact, Im finding more and more difficult to find ways to reduce my water use.

Of course, the new shower head is paying off. I am getting used to the lower water pressure, although I do find that I stay in the shower longer in order to compensate for that, so Im not really sure if that measure is paying off or not.

My list of water conservation tips suggests that I ” share water conservation tips with friends and neighbors.” So, that is what I tried to do.

Since the best way to reach a large number of people is through email, I considered sending an email to everyone I know telling them how important it is to conserve water. Then I came to the conclusion that everyone already knows that wasting water is bad, and that in most cases water conservation is mostly a matter of taking knowledge and common sense and converting it into action.

Also, pestering your friends to turn off the faucet or not run the dishwasher can sound rather Stalin-esque. So instead of beating the proverbial a dead horse, I thought that instead of telling people about the best ways to conserve water, I would instead create a list of my own—of the worst ways to save water. Consider it my end of the week gift to you. Ill try to present you with a more serious account of my water conservation adventures next week.

10 Worst Ways to Conserve Water

1. Take a shower only when it is raining outside
2. Multi-task: take showers with your clothes on. Bring along soap, shampoo and a big bottle of detergent. Not only will this clean you, it will save you the hassle of doing your laundry.
3. Stop buying products that list water as an ingredient.
4. Dont use your own water resources, borrow from a wealthy neighbor. Then you can run into a McDonalds bathroom with a glass, fill it up with water, run out of the bathroom with the glass held high and proclaim ‚Its Free,” ‚Its Free!!!”
5. Install a new low-flow fire sprinkler system in your workplace and then test it out!
6. Convince President Obama to outlaw children’s wading pools, fish tanks and acquariums.
7. Speaking of which, you could also use vegetable oil on your Slip n Slide.
8. Convince people that water just isnt that healthy.
9. Replace your indoor plumbing system with an old-school outhouse.
10. Create new national holiday: Lick An Ice Sculpture Day