Americans use up to 100 gallons of water, per person, a day at home!
And almost none of that is for drinking. In fact, the recommended amount of drinking water is only half a gallon!
That means you could reduce your water use, reduce your water bill and do it without the risk of going thirsty and here’s how.
14 Ways To Save Water At Home
- Turn off your faucet, when you’re not using it
Yes, even during a task. Just 20 seconds of operation equals a quarter of a gallon of water down the sink! - Run your dishwasher only when it’s full
Dishwashers save water as they use less than when you hand wash but only if you wait until they are full. - Use your greywater rather than letting it run out
The water from a bath or shower after you’ve finished? That’s greywater and you can use it to water the lawn or clean your car perfectly safely. - Use a water-saving showerhead
There are a variety of quality water-saving shower heads that will ensure you get a great shower while using less water to do so. - Try to use shorter cycles on your washing machine
The shorter the cycle, the less water that the machine consumes. Never use “permanent press” which uses the most water. - Spend less time in the shower
Most Americans spend nearly 8 minutes in the shower a day at a cost of nearly 16 gallons of water! Taking shorter showers or fewer showers can have a huge impact on water use. - Keep your water in the fridge
Put water in glass bottles and then put it in the fridge. Then you always get a cold drink and you won’t run the tap to wait until it’s cold for a glass of water. - Steam, don’t boil vegetables
The end result is the same but you use about ⅓ to ⅕ of the water when you steam your veggies and if you can cook rice or pasta in the water below as you do it – so much the better! - Wear clothes more than once
Yes, we appreciate sometimes clothes are simply filthy and need a wash but many are fine to wear multiple times before washing – such as jeans (which barely need washing at all). - Replace or repair any leaky faucets
Just 1 drop per second from a leaky faucet and you’re wasting over 2,000 gallons of water a year! - Change your toilets to high-efficiency flush toilets
This can reduce the water used to flush from 7 gallons to a measly 1.28! - Compost where possible rather than using the garbage disposal
Not only does a garbage disposal use water but it also wastes all that food waste that could be growing crops in your garden. Get a compost bin and use it. - Eat more vegan food
A cow consumes 30 gallons of water every day. Not eating cows saves a lot of water in the long run, though, sadly, it won’t show up on your water bill. - Buy secondhand clothes
It takes up to 20,000 liters of water to grow and then process a single kilogram of cotton! Buying second hand cuts down water usage dramatically!