On my mind lately...

I happened to come across the April edition of National Geographic a few weeks ago and after leafing through the pages I began to feel very ashamed of myself.

The month's edition is about water:


I began to think about my water usage and I realized all over again how much I take for granted that I can just turn on the tap in my kitchen and wash my hands, or how I can put a load of laundry in to wash and not even think twice about how much water I'm using. I thought about how while I can stand in the shower and take my time rinsing, lathering, and repeating, there are African ladies who wake up at the crack of dawn to draw water for the entire family from a reservoir only to discover that the heat of the sun has evaporated most of the water supply. These ladies then have to wait at least a week to do it all over again. In the meantime, how can they and their families survive? And at the same time this is happening, I'm in the shower for at least 15 minutes, taking my time and letting the warm water rush over me. It's just not fair.

I've been thinking about this a lot. I feel so ashamed about how quickly I'd forgotten my resolve to cherish water after visiting Cambodia. It was there that I saw first hand just how precious water is. There were kids around the same age as my niece walking down the streets carrying water in their hands. I remember the bathroom at the orphanage, how although I was encouraged to use the shower, everyone else used the water that was collected in a large container to bathe themselves. I remember returning to Japan (where I was living at the time) and feeling embarrassed at the abundance of vending machines full of fresh, bottled water and the fact that no one seemed to be in dire need of this precious resource.

Since reading National Geographic's Water issue, I've been trying hard to limit my water use at home. Instead of taking my usual 15 minute shower, I've been trying the "military shower" where you get in, get wet, turn off tap, lather everything up, and rinse. I will admit that it has been a challenge for me to get used to this method as being a product junkie, I have multiple cleansers etc. That, and the fact that I love feeling the warm water run down my back. But I've been trying and I hope that I can keep up with this.

There are lots of ways for us to conserve our water usage:
Go Blue
City of Edmonton Water Efficient Bylaws

I'm particularly pleased to see that Edmonton is planning on implementing a building code which will allow the use of reclaimed water.

In the meantime, I hope we can all try our best to watch our water usage and to make a conscious effort to conserve.