Save Water

As a family, we try to be aware of the impact that our lifestyle choices have on our planet. We grow some of our own produce, we recycle all that we can, we reuse or donate goods we don’t need rather than throwing them away, we use reusable bags. I think it’s really important that we raise our children to see these things as normal, as opposed to having the ‘throwaway’ mindset that seems to be prevalent.

Another area that we are concious of is to save water. 97.5% off the water on earth is salt water – which only leaves 2.5% fresh water available for us! Conserving our water is such an important topic – especially when we see images on the news of people struggling to survive through a drought in third world countries. Here in the UK we take for granted the fact that we can turn on a tap and have an endless stream of water.

Leaving the tap running, washing dishes under a running tap, running a fresh bath for each member of the family all waste water. The girls know to turn of the tap when they’re brushing their teeth, while we don’t have a dishwasher {which can actually save water!}, we run a bowl full of water for washing dishes and start with the cleanest things first so that everything can be washed in as little water as possible. I’ve always bathed more than one child together too.. Lola prefers a shower these days, but Kiki and Baya either bathe together, or Baya hops in after Kiki has finished. We try and keep our showers to less than five minutes each to conserve water too {Lola does NOT like this!!}

I’ve always thought that a dishwasher would use more water than washing by hand, so I tested out this Water Calculater to see if I was right {I wasn’t}. I was surprised at just how much water we would save if I didn’t wash by hand after each meal. Of course, if you are on a water meter you’d also see a saving in how much you are spending – not to mention your time. I could have almost an extra five hours a week!!

This infographic has some great tips for saving water. When you realise just how many people in the world don’t have access to clean water, it really makes you more appreciative of being able to turn on tap. Are you aware of how much water you use? Do you try to save water?