All of you have calculated your emissions and you have surely discovered the unexpectedly high impact of some of your behaviors (eating meat, flying to a sunny destination, etc.) on your total footprints.
Are there any behaviors that you are really willing to change or to improve for the sake of the environment? What challenges do you encounter or think you will encounter while trying to change these things? What help, support, and insights from others would make your life easier with these new behaviors?
Let's discuss these issues and make our pledges here!
Now It's Time for Action >
Shower Power- Saving Water!
For me, showering is not just a means to get clean but it is also a time for me to relax and rejuvenate after stressful days. Standing in warm water while surrounded by steam has a calming effect that I have grown to love. However, my showers are probably the longest out of anyone in my family, including my brother and my parents. Especially now that we in California are experiencing an unprecedented drought, reducing water use is imperative. The website Water Smart Technology discusses how altering shower time in California can save shockingly tremendous amounts of water. Currently, the average shower is 11 minutes, using about 27.5 gallons of water per shower. Reducing shower time to 5 minutes actually saves 5,475 gallons of water per person per year! That means that if 38 million Californians took 5 minute showers, we would save 200 billion gallons of water annually (read more at http://watersmarttechnology.com/take-fi … ia-shower/). To be honest, it will be quite difficult for me to reduce my 15 minute relaxation periods to just a short 5 minutes because I am so used to longer showers. However, knowing just how much water I can save by cutting my shower time by ⅓ is definitely motivation to work towards a goal of 5 minute showers. Another idea I have about improving how I shower for the sake of the environment is to start collecting extra water to use. Before I actually get into the shower, the water can take about a minute to warm up; one minute seems like a short period of time, but 2.5 gallons of clean, drinking water goes straight down the drain. If I get a bucket of some sort to put in the shower while the water is warming up, my family and I can recycle that water to do things like water our plants. Showers sure are powerful when it comes to how much water is used, and I pledge to decrease my shower time and try to collect shower water to do my part in combating the drought.
Olivia, I completely agree with you. I too used to take long showers, sometimes even up to 15 minutes per shower. Like you, a shower to me was a time where I can let go of the struggles I ecountered during the day. However, since recent years, CA has been receiving a very little amount of water furthering our position in the already great deficit of water. I did not know that by taking shorter showers would reduce water use by so much. Another example how the little things matter. If all of CA took shorter showers, we would be able to save a great amount of water. Being that CA is in such a great drought, it is imperative that we as a state make this change. The state and water companies in my area are realizing the impact of the drought. There is a limit to how much water we can use as a family within the household. If the limit is surpassed a fine, sometimes up to $10,000 is placed. This is a further incentibe that water companies have put into place to ensure that people think about the amount of water they use.