Bob Gottfried is the Founder of ACE Clinics in Toronto, Ontario.

Why You Should Be Saving Water to Save the World

Picture of Potable WaterThere is an idiom which says, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” This conceptualization of the world and our place in it rings increasingly true as the extent to which we have the capacity to impact the wellbeing of our planet becomes more and more evident. As the importance of sustainability moves not only the mainstream but also the forefront of societies across the globe, many citizens can sometimes feel unsure about how they can play the most helpful role in combating environmental degradation of such a large scale. There is a huge amount of information available these days, which is fantastic, and some good habits have even become common like recycling or conserving energy. Another one of the most positive lifestyle changes a person can make revolves around what many people understand to be the most precious natural resource of them all and the source of life itself – water.

Why Water?

For a planet that is overwhelmingly covered by water (71% of the Earth’s surface is in fact covered in water), oceans hold 96.5% of it. When you factor in all sorts of details, like accessibility and potability, only 1% of all that water is actually fit for human consumption. That is an alarming statistic, but a reality nonetheless. What is more, it is a reality felt quite differently all over the world. In developed nations, clean water flows freely from faucets everywhere, but that is a luxury nearlyone billion humans on the planet can only imagine. As the global population grows, more and more people will need to use this finite resource just to survive. Although technology is racing to increase our supply through processes like desalination, it is nonetheless critical that we all do our part to conserve water and use it wisely. Wasting water is not just ill-advised. When you consider it in a worldwide context, it is morally repugnant as well.

How to Save

Fortunately, there are many easy, quick ways you can be sure you are doing your part to sustainably consume water. A large number of these habits you might have even learned as a child. Conserving water often also means saving money, so the benefits to you are more than just environmental. For example, turning off your tap while you brush your teeth every day can save up to 8 gallons. That adds up to more than 200 gallons of water saved per month. Washing dishes efficiently (scraping off food excess into the trash first, rinsing quickly, and loading the dishwasher completely) is similarly helpful. Another great lifestyle change is to shower, rather than take a bath. Showers use anywhere between 10 to 25 gallons of water, while a bath can require 70 gallons. Timing your showers to keep them short is even better! Another excellent way to conserve water around the house is to be especially conscious of any leaks. These are not only annoying or potential sources of water damage – depending on the severity of the leak, it could be losing hundreds of gallons of water per day.

There is honestly no shortage of ways in which you can get creative and conserve this precious resource. The most important thing is that you care enough to try. Make it a habit to do away with wasting water, not just for your benefit, but for the world at large.