Tapped out
8 easy ways to save water
IN THE HOUSE
- Turn off water while brushing your teeth.
- Install a low-flow toilet.
- Take short showers instead of baths.
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IN THE GARDEN
- Plant native and drought-tolerant plants.
- Use soaker hoses, water in the early morning, and avoid misting sprinklers.
- Sweep — don't hose down — driveways and patios.
ON THE TABLE
- Consider eating less meat. Producing a quarter-pound beef patty requires as much as 2,900 gallons of water, according to Cornell University researchers.
- Refill reusable bottles with filtered water rather than buying bottled water.
CONSIDER THIS
Only 2.5 percent of Earth's water is considered fresh water. Of this, only three-tenths of 1 percent is available to us via lakes, rivers, and streams. Unfortunately, much of this tiny fraction is in danger of drying up through desertification or is becoming irretrievably polluted.
March 22 is World Water Day, a great opportunity to adopt smarter water-use habits.
TO LEARN MORE, log on to www.blueplanetrun.org and check out Blue Planet Run Foundation's grassroots mission to provide a lifetime's supply of safe drinking water to 200 million people by 2027. A $30 donation can save a life.
| 1.1 BILLION | Number of people worldwide who lack access to safe drinking water (nearly one-sixth of the planet). |
| 6,000 | Number of people who die from inadequate water supply every 24 hours. |
| 3.7 | Average number of miles women in Africa and Asia travel daily to collect water. |
| 5.3 BILLION | Number of people — two-thirds of the world's population — who will suffer from water shortages by 2025. |
| 100-176 | Gallons of water the average U.S. resident uses every day at home — versus 5 gallons per day for the average African family. |
| Sources: Blue Planet Run (Earth Aware Editions, 2007); Ecological Integrity by David Pimentel, et al. (Island, 2001). | |
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