Fresh, clean, drinkable water. In some parts of the world, it dictates life and death. In developed nations, it’s under appreciated, and in decline. We celebrate World Water Day this week with pangs of concern.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, save water, water, Water Conservation, World Water Day
Americans consume a lot of water as a result of their food and lawn choices. Read Danielle Nierenberg’s blog about how we can lower the stress we’re placing on dwindling water supplies. Ms. Nierenberg, co-founder of Food Tank, has traveled the world, studying food and water scarcity, and can tell you how many Kenyans survive on the same amount of water consumed by one American.
Tags: · drinkable water, Drought, Food Tank, US water, Water Conservation, water scarcity
What’s the best way to reduce how much water you use? You may be surprised to learn that it doesn’t involve your lawn or a household faucet.
Tags: · beef, chicken, industrial meat, meat consumption, pork, Water Conservation
Are you weary of mowing, weeding and fertilizing that yawning stretch of lawn? Consider installing a patch of native prairie. A Pocket Prairie can reduce your thirsty conventional turf, replacing it with native grasses and flowers. You’ll be feeding butterflies and birds, and cut down your grass mowing obligations, perhaps to zero.
Tags: · annuals, birds, butterflies, Gardens, native flowers, native grasses, nature, perennials, sustainability, Water Conservation
In an effort to address Texas’ ongoing drought, two state lawmakers have proposed legislation that would free thousands of homeowners from having to water and maintain conventional sod lawns.
Tags: · Drought, drought-tolerant plants, Texas, Water Conservation, xeriscape
It’s cold now. Pretty much everywhere except for those places that converge toward a moderate median in the 70s, like LA, or Miami.
Have you noticed that in the cold, it’s harder to be green?
For example, I have real trouble detaching from my shower after the allotted five minutes. I am cold most of the daytime, but it’s warm in the shower. I want to linger there. You do too, admit it. Once the Lazy Environmentalist was honest with us about that. He said he had good ideas in the shower and he liked to take long ones. (See the article if you don’t believe me.)
During my longer-than-usual shower this morning I didn’t really have any great ideas. I did think a lot about how much I like warm showers in the winter. I strategized extensively on my exit plan for the shower: Grab the towel, retrieve the slippers immediately; get into the wool shirt, even if it sticks to my wet skin, find winter cardigan.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, electricity savings, Energy Conservation, greenrightnow.com, hot water, hot water heater cover, insulation, Water Conservation, water heater, weatherization, winterizing
It’s been a strange week. I’m blushing, because wherever I go, I am confronted by flushing.
First came news that actor and green activist Ed Begley is endorsing two composting toilets. Leave it to Ed to go where no man has gone before.
I am glad that Begley continues to push the envelope. I assume he’ll be installing these at home, and he will find that composting toilets are at least as easy to incorporate as those stationary bikes he uses to power the TV. I confess I don’t watch the Living with Ed show, but I am a fan of his green advocacy. Another product he’s endorsed, Bayes Waterless Car Wash, has become a favorite at our house. We save untold gallons of water, avoided sending contaminated runoff into the sewer system and still end up with sparkly cars.
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Biokleen, Chem Free Toilet Cleaner, chemical contamination of water, composting toilets, Ecover, Ed Begley, Envirolet, environmentalist, germs, GreenWorks, Santerra Green, Seventh Generation, toilet cleaner, toilets, wastewater, water, Water Conservation
By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
The world’s water supply needs protection on all sides. Industrial pollution and human waste contaminate water supplies across the globe, while chemical- and pharmaceutical-laden runoff compromised the water re-supplying our streams and aquifers.
Water: It's limited.
Deforestation and development have drained wetlands, half of which disappeared in the last century.
Tags: · Climate Change, Earth Day, Energy Star, Energy Star appliances, freshwater, Water Conservation, water efficiency, Water Pollution, water runoff, water supply, water use, world's water supply
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
We don’t want to let World Water Day slip away without a few reminders to use less of this precious resource.
I will be the first to say, it’s not always easy. When we almost lost a maple tree a few years ago, we dumped water on the thing nearly every day to help nurse it through a crackly dry August. Just last night, I drew half a tub of water for a child, only to discover that we hadn’t cleaned the tub since its last use as a doggie wash. Eeee! We believe in water conservation, but we really like clean kids too. And this was just one day, I won’t even get into the time I forgot to turn the veggie garden drip line off.
Now that I’ve confessed my water sins, I will tell you a few ways I’ve cut down on water use.
First, I’ve become a great fan of the waterless car wash products. I’ve tried a couple that do a terrific job of cleaning the car’s exterior without using a drop of water beyond whatever’s in the bottle of solution. My favorite is the Bayes brand Waterless Car Wash. Eco Touch is another brand to look for. And importantly, most of these products are eco-friendly, so you can still employ child labor to clean the car. It’s win-win!
Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Water Conservation, World Water Day
From Green Right Now Reports
Who knew that the process of harvesting and packing bananas was a water-intensive process?
Apparently, a lot of water is used to hold the fruit until it is selected for packing. But Dole Food Company, Inc., the world’s largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, and the biggest producer of organic bananas, has announced a pilot project in Costa Rica that reduces water use by more than 80 percent and cuts energy use in half.
The company’s Standard Fruit de Costa Rica division developed a completely new method of harvesting and selecting banana that brought these tasks closer to the field. The new chain of operations cut out holding time inbetween the picking and packing of the bananas, reducing the water and energy requirements of the process, according to Dole, which is based in Westlake Village, Calif.
Tags: · bananas, Costa Rica, Dole Food Company, Organic Food, pesticides, sustainable growing, Water Conservation
The EPA says homes use half the water in the U.S.
By Kate Nolan
Green Right Now
If you want to save something, try water. It’s going fast. Depletion of the U.S. water supply isn’t something you can argue about. It’s visible, measurable and predictable. Since 2005, every U.S. region has been short on water, and use increases annually. Even New York City has experienced drought in recent years.
Tags: · aerators, Fix a Leak week, low flow toilets, low-flow shower heads, lower water use clothes washer, lowflow toilets, Native Plants, rain barrels, Water Conservation, water heater, WaterSense program
From Green Right Now Reports
Get your pipe fittings ready, next week is Fix a Leak week, starting March 15.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the annual five-day blitz to promote repair of leaks and replacing appliances with those that have WaterSense labels, the EPA’s designation for low water use products. Did you even know that some faucets are engineering to use less water without a reduction in flow. That’s how they get the WaterSense label, and you can find products and models at the WaterSense website.
Tags: · EPA, Fix a Leak week, saving water, Water Conservation, WaterSense
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift