I have three small steps you can take around your house to help manage your environmental impact.
Dish Water:
I am reading this amazing book called “The Green Book” by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen and was blown away by this factoid about dishwashers:
“Run full loads in your dishwasher and save energy, and don’t pre-rinse your dishes before putting them in. Do both and you’ll save up to 20 gallons of water per dish load, or 7,300 gallons over a year. That’s as much water as the average person drinks in an lifetime. (If you must hand wash, turn off the tap while you scrub)”
You read that correctly, seven thousand three hundred gallons over the course of ONE year! This is the easiest tip I have ever seen. It cuts down on your personal effort because now you have an excuse not to pre rinse and saves twenty gallons of water per load. Consider it done. Next, please.
Shower Time:
Did you know that every two minutes you shower you use around 10 gallons of water? Imagine if everyone in America was able to cut down on their shower time. If everyone in the United States saved a measly one gallon of water a day from their shower, annually it would equal twice the amount of freshwater we draw from the Great Lakes every single day. The Great Lakes are the world’s largest source of freshwater and I don’t know about you but we should definitely conserve this precious resource.
Trash:
You should be using the reusable bags we talked about in my previous article when you go shopping, but realistically I know this isn’t always possible. So, what do you do with the plastic bags you end up with? Use them as trash can liners! This will reduce the cost of buying trash can liners which generally cost around five dollars. It cuts down on waste and saves you money. 2 birds, 1 stone!
Take these three simple steps and they can make an astronomical difference in our environment. Go get ’em gorgeous!
