Living in the good 'ol USA and with modern technology and all---well, we take a lot for granted. Over a hundred years ago when people in this country, like some people still do in other countries, had to get their water from a well, stream, or brook, they knew that water was precious, as in, if they don't use it and conserve it wisely then they have to haul themselves back to the lake complete with a bucket like Jack and Jill who went up a hill to fetch a pail of water. Sing it with me now. So those folks were right more thoughtful of how they used their water. Well, thanks to modern revolution and all, we don't have to traipse on up a hill and haul back with buckets of heavy water. I tell you what though, those folks--and their kids too---were in shape and had muscles and knew that in order to have water, they had to make the concerted effort to go to the lake and get some. What if the lake was froze over? What if it was snowing and a blizzard? I mean, that would make it even more of a reason to conserve water. After all, who wants to go back-and-forth to fetch water--- or rather, ice---in a blizzard, right? Kids helped with the family chores and did their part. There was no parental shelter from routine survival chores lest the kids grow up and leave the nest and have some sense of being responsible for their own lives and not dependent on mommy and daddy and... I mean---OK, that is a subject for another rant---I mean blog. But my point in this rather exasperatingly winded intro is that just because we have modern conveniences at our disposals that doesn't entitle us--- yes, there is that overly used and rather accurate word for our 21st century attitude that many folks have these days---it doesn't entitle us to just turn Mister Faucet on full blast and let the entire Pacific Ocean into our kitchen sink. I mean, I tell you what. I can't believe how people will literally let the water flow and flow and flow out of their faucet as though the Hoover dam broke loose. Really? You needed that much water just so you could rinse a dish with a few toast crumbs on it so it's clean for your fangle-dangle dishwasher to run 6 gallons of water per cycle--4 gallons, depending if you have an energy star rated dish washer---on it? I think, OK, so you don't care if we're in the longest drought since before God had Noah build an ark. Go ahead and just turn on the faucet and let 'er rip.
Well if anyone cares to take a little extra dose of pride and concern with handling our natural resources with a tad bit more respect, then you best take heed to these water conservation tips.
Here is a link to National Geographic and their commonsense tips to sparing water.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-conservation-tips/
Like, don't run the water when you're shaving or brushing your teeth. What benefit does that accomplish? Other than not wanting to take that extra moment to turn off the faucet and then turn it back on again when needed. Even fixing that incessantly annoying dripping faucet.
- one gallon of water is 15,140 drips
- one liter of water is 4,000 drips
Brush up or wash up with some water education on:
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/
It's really simple.
Why not take the Water IQ Quiz? First a lesson in Water 101:
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-101-quiz/
I only got one right on it so I wasn't as smart as I thought. But the second time around I got a whooping 90% on it. I paid attention to the answers, somewhat.
These sites are user friendly and speak in layman's terms so you don't have to worry about a bunch of science jargon being thrown your way and boring you to tears, which would be a waste of your own water.
So don't be a drip and help restore fresh water ecosystems and save the Colorado River and do your part to return water to the River.
Remember, only you can prevent a parched land. Hey, see what I did with that? Thanks for the line inspiration, Smokey.
