Clean Dishes. Less Water.

I would like to make an effort to conserve water during dishwashing.

I think there are many opportunities to try and save water during this activity. I know that I often leave the faucet running as I search the kitchen for other dishes, am putting select things in the dishwasher, or get distracted. I would like to try and be more aware of this and more responsible with how I use water.

I think that filling the sink with soapy water and using that to clean dishes, only having to run the faucet occasionally to rinse, would require much less water. I will try to compare the two processes. Also I will compare my water usage to that of the dishwasher and try to pass on to others in my house my findings about which is a more efficient use of water.

DP3- Short Showers!

Water is a scarce resource, and our use of it affects both other people and other species.  Hot water also requires energy (fossil-fuel based) to be heated and maintained.  Therefore taking shorter showers can affect the health of ecosystems, water supplies for our communities and farms, and climate change.

I am going to focus my DP3 on water conservation.  I tend to take extremely long/hot showers multiple times a day.   Showers make me feel nice and clean, and the hot temperature is very relaxing.  For DP3, I’m going to think of my shower as a tool for helping the environment.  For the rest of the quarter, I plan to take only one shower a day as well as reducing the shower time to about 4 minutes.

DP3 – Refrigeration

I live in a dorm on campus here.  As such, I very rarely cook for myself and equally rarely buy food items which absolutely need to frozen or refrigerated.  However, I do have a mini-fridge in my room and often fill it with unnecessary items such as snacks, ice, and fun beverages.  Refrigerators are among a number of unfortunate appliances which must always be on and always operate at a relatively constant level of power consumption.  Thus, I imagine that by turning off my mini-fridge for the rest of the quarter, I could save quite a bit of energy.

When I do buy foods that need to be frozen, I will use a communal refrigerator and calculate the amount of energy I use in that process.  At the end of the quarter I will compare the amount of power I’ve used in communal refrigerators to the amount I’ve saved by turning off my own.  Additionally, I may also do research on the environmental damage my refrigerator might cause – though refrigerants these days are far less harmful than they used to be, they must still have some impact on the atmosphere.

DP3 Shaker Muasher – Water Bottles

I use way too many disposable water bottles, and that can’t be good. Growing up, I hated re-usable water bottles. The last thing I wanted was plastic-tasting water (from those re-usable water bottles) after a little league soccer match in the arid, dry and dusty turf fields of Amman, Jordan. So I always went for the packaged orange juice.

Re-usable water bottles have come a long way since then, and its been a while since I’ve used one, at least regularly. So I thought I’d take it upon myself to see how many bottles I would save if I switched from using disposable water bottles, to a Nalgene (non-plastic tasting, BPA free) or Sigg re-usable water bottle.

Shorter Showers Make WaterSense

I’ve decided to center my personal sustainability project on the global water crisis issue. According to the EPA’s website (http://epa.gov/watersense/), water has become a national priority. A government survey projected that at least 36 states will experience water shortages by 2013. Our water supply is a limited resource. By using water more efficiently, we can help preserve water supplies for future generations and protect the environment. Using water more efficiently requires a change in our showering habits. I’m personally very attached to my long, hot showers. But by taking long showers, I use up a lot of water as well as a lot of energy used to heat the water. According to the EPA, letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours. My goal is to conserve water and energy by changing my showering habits. I plan to cut my typical showers down from 15 to 5 minutes. Not only do I plan to take shorter showers, I plan to also take cooler showers compared to my usual burning hot ones in order to save on energy required for heating the water. And furthermore, I will turn off the water while shampooing. I will measure my progress by keeping a log of my shower lengths. At the end of the quarter, I will calculate the amount of energy and water I used compared to the amount of energy and water I would’ve used taking my usual 15min. showers. My hope is that by changing my habits during these 10 weeks, I will decrease my environmental impact.