Daily Tomorrow-An Eco-blog about green living, health and the environment

What’s Your Water Footprint?

by Gabrielle on July 31st, 2008

What?

With all the talk surrounding carbon footprints lately, it might be easy to forget that there are other natural resources in short supply.

H2OConserve.com helps you calculate your water footprint. How?

The Calculator gives you an estimate of the total amount of water you use, what is called your water footprint. The Calculator takes into account not only the water used in your home, but also the water used to produce the food you eat and the products you buy. Your water footprint includes other factors such as water utilized to cool power plants that provide your electricity, and water saved when you recycle. You may not drink, feel or see this water, but it makes up the great majority of your water footprint.

I took the test and scored lower than the national average, but not as low as I’d hoped. Here are the tips H2O Conserve gave me to lower my score:

• You do not have any low-flow faucets in your home. By switching to low-flow faucets, you can reduce your water flow by 3.5 gallons per minute.
• Your household uses over 15 gallons per person per day just for the laundry. Consider doing your laundry less often, and make sure that you only use your washing machine when it is completely full.
• Your household uses more than 1 gallon per person per day on the dishes, which is the national average. You may want to consider getting a low-flow dishwasher, and try to use fewer dishes when you cook and serve meals.

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POSTED IN: Energy Efficiency, Find Green, Healthy Home, Natural Resources, Oceans