Our summer reading program this year is dedicated to the world's oceans and water supplies. Only about 1% of the world's water is drinkable and every living being needs water. Meanwhile, the Great Lakes account for more than 22% of the world's fresh water supply. It is an incredibly valuable resource that we have been made stewards of by living in the Midwest. It's time we take a look at what we can do to keep it healthy and usable. As such, we are taking a look at some of the things we can do to help take care of our waterways. Every week this summer we will be taking a look at some of the little things we can do to keep our waters clean, healthy, and usable, maintain the ecosystem, and in general do our part to take care of our planet. Let's take a look:
Around the House
You've heard the phrase "Charity begins in the home?" Water conservation does as well. Our first few posts of this series deal in things you can do around the house. We'll look at some easy changes you can put into effect that can have a significant impact on the quality of our drinking water and waterways.
#1 - Washing Only When Full
Both the dishwasher and the washing machine are contributors to what is called nutrient pollution. Forget those Cascade ads telling you to wash your dishes every day, even if you only have a small load. It's wasteful. It's inefficient. It pollutes.
While the most energy efficient dishwashing models on the market do use a little less water than if you continually ran the water while washing eight or more dishes, it still costs more in terms of what it takes to heat that water than if you did the same dishes by hand. So full loads only are your friend.
In addition, modern dishwashers are made to be most efficient when dishes haven't been rinsed beforehand. Scrape your dishes clean into the trash instead of rinsing in the sink and put them directly into the machine (unless they are going to sit for a few days and might smell). In addition to saving water by reducing the time you purposelessly run your water, food down the disposal is yet another way for food-bourn bacteria and other pollutants can enter our waterways, even with treatment facilities working to clean up what we use. Also, don't be fooled by the "Make Dishwashers Great Again" campaigns as what they are suggesting would take less time but ultimately cost consumers and producers more as well as using more water and energy and cause more pollution.
Similar things can be said of partial loads of laundry or washing your synthetic clothing too often. It isn't just a matter of clothing wearing out that much quicker, losing their color, their stretch, their smooth lines. One load of laundry can release more than 700,000 microscopic plastic fibers into the water system. This is in addition to the extra phosphates pumped into the ecosystem by detergents.
It is suggested that you only do full loads, wash your synthetic clothing less often, and wash clothing in cold water. Use liquid detergents in washing machines, and, if you do use partial loads, make sure to set your washer's settings to the correct level of water. There are extenuating circumstances to everything, so if you do have a question on what you should use, do your research. There are plenty of sites out there with suggestions and opinions to either side of the argument, and a little knowledge can go a long way.