On January 17th, Governor Brown called on all Californians to reduce water consumption and prepare for a “long, continued, persistent effort to restrain our water usage.” It is important that we all do our part to conserve water during this drought emergency. Making small changes to a number of daily habits will make a difference. Here are some tips from the California Department of Water Resources:
- Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth (saves up to 10 gallons a day).
- Reduce shower time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes (saves about 12.5 gallons a day).
- Run full loads of dishes in your dishwasher (saves about 15 gallons).
- Run full loads of clothes in your washing machine.
The California government is also taking their own steps to help conserve water. Some actions they’re taking include: banning state vehicles to be washed (except for safety or health reasons), slowing down irrigation projects on roadways, and cancelling water-heavy window washing projects. This is truly a statewide, team effort!
For more helpful tips about conserving water, visit SaveOurH20.org. Also, share your own ideas below on other ways to help conserve water.
Together, we can make a difference in this drought emergency!
I recently changed the way I hand-wash dishes after noticing how much water is wasted from letting it run.
Its great that Equity has brought water conservation to the attention of its residents and is constantly trying to improve the community. But, people don’t change their behavior unless they see direct consequences from their efforts (less water –> lower bill). Since the water bill depends on the community as a whole, people believe that they will not make a difference alone or will ask why they should change if nobody else is.
To encourage change, Equity should offer an incentive (community pizza party, raffle, bingo, casino night, etc.) to the building that has the biggest change, highest conservation, or if a building reaches its goal. Even letting us know water our bill WOULD be if we reach a certain level would be great! Keeping us updated on weekly usage will help us see progress.
Very proud of my Woodleaf management for staying on top of the watering systems for landscaping here. No more water spouts due to neglected sprinkler heads!
We can all do better to conserve…especially the farmers in Central Valley.
Monica- I love your idea! We will pass it along to the regional teams to see if we can get something set up.
Marla – That’s so wonderful to hear 🙂