Waste less water – May and my eco-friendly challenge

Water is arguably one of our most precious and vital commodities. After all, it’s the thing that makes Earth so unique. However, we quite simply use way too much water. Think about it – to prepare our foods, to wash and for personal hygiene, to clean everything else in our lives and more. Water is such a fundamental part of our lives, and yet, unfortunately, it is a resource that we are quickly realising is not indefinite. 

South Africa has gone through some severe droughts – you may have heard in particular about the massive drought that affected one of our major cities, Cape Town. All over the world, though, I do believe that people realise we can’t just use as much water as we want and still think we’ll have plenty for years to come. However, I believe that we can all be more clever about saving water, so that is what my May eco-challenge will be all about. The ways in which I can try to save as much water as possible. 

Less baths, more short showers 

Everyone knows that baths are not exactly friendly on water consumption. After all, it is sitting in a massive tub of water, but for some people, a bath can be more eco-friendly than showers, especially if you have kids. However, in my case, it’s just me in my bath, so I am definitely going to aim for way fewer baths. So with that, come showers, except if you end up taking a 15-minute shower, it sort of defeats the purpose of swapping a bath for a shower. My plan this month is to try and only have showers, and with that, no more than 5 minutes. It does mean cutting my shower concerts down to only one and a half songs, but it is worth it to save water. 

Flushing the toilet 

This can be quite a debate, but in all honesty, we do waste a lot of water every time we flush the toilet. I know some people may not agree with this, but I agree that we don’t have to flush the toilet every time (if you’re at home). I won’t go into too much detail on this goal, but essentially if you don’t really need to, don’t flush the toilet every time. 

Only boil the water I need 

Okay, this one is a mix of water-saving and energy-saving. For all of us who can’t make it through the day without a couple cups of something hot, we end up wasting a lot of water and energy every time we boil the kettle. I don’t think I’m the only one who does this – when you feel like a cup of tea, you end up filling the whole kettle and boiling it, and so you use all that energy boiling all that water, and only use a cup or two of it. That is a waste. So, my aim for this is to try and only boil as much water as I need to save on both those fronts. Plus, I’m going to stick to only using my big cups that are 600ml and 750ml so that I drink fewer cups of tea in general. What do you think about that? 

Recycle water 

You might think that it’s impossible to recycle water. I mean, using the water you used to wash your dishes somewhere else is just gross, right? I would agree with you on that. But, there are other ways that you can save water. For instance, use a bucket to collect your water in the shower or taps when you’re waiting for the water to heat up so that you can use it to water your plants or something. You can do the same thing with water you’ve used to boil different foods, or even just keep some buckets or water tanks outside for when it rains, which is something we have at home. See? There are many ways to recycle water that doesn’t have to be gross – you just have to get creative with it. 

Eco-friendly dishwashing 

I researched other ways to save water besides the obvious ones and came across some notes about eco-friendly dishwashing. Now, if you run the dishwasher full and properly, it can definitely save water. However, when I am in my flat in the UK, we don’t have a dishwasher, so dishes must be done by hand. People may think that washing dishes by hand instead of using a half-empty dishwasher is saving water, but there are even more ways to wash dishes with less water. The tip that I saw is to use a bucket instead of a whole sink. One with soapy water, and one with plain water so that you don’t waste lots by running dishes under the tap. Wash the cleaner items first, and soak other dishes and pots separately first. That way, you can save even more water just with washing a few dishes, so that is my plan. 

And there you have it! Water is such a precious commodity, and if we aren’t careful, we will run out of it. So, if we all do our small parts to cut water where we can, we can at least give ourselves the time to continue making the grander scale changes we need to save ourselves. That was my whole point behind these eco-friendly challenges – to see all the small ways we can make the necessary changes to help protect our planet and save ourselves before we sign and seal our doom. With all these little steps, we can do this! 

Are there any ways that you save water every day? Any you think I should add to my list that I haven’t already got?? Let’s chat in the comments section. 

Lots of love

Blondey on a Mission xxx