Fresh water is running out and is soon to become a very precious commodity. It’s staggering to realize that the average person in the developed world uses 2.64 gallons a day and the average person in the U.S. uses between 100 – 175 gallons a day at home. 
It is vital that we not only learn to seriously conserve water at home, but also that we start to learn about the global water issues. It might seem far away or that it won’t really affect you, especially if you live in a region where it rains a lot, but actually it will affect all of us. Fresh water, as opposed to salt or polluted water is becoming scarce. We are using it much faster than it can be replenished and with the planet warming up, we could be in big trouble.
March 22nd is World Water Day, so why not spend a few minutes thinking about more ways that you can conserve water and click on Food and Water Watch to sign some of their campaigns. You can also visit them to learn more about this troubling issue. Please leave comments about the many ways in which you are saving water. Here are some of mine: I have stopped irrigating my lawn and let it turn a natural brownish color in the dry season. I have replaced my water guzzling plants with native drought-tolerant plants. I only have a bath for a very special treat!
There is a great documentary out called “FLOW: For the Love of Water” that talks about global water issues. It is a great way to learn about some of the crazy things that go on for water – and some of the EASY ways we can make changes that will help the rest of the world have clean water!
I know the dvd is available on Netflix…
Living on a acerage and getting our water trucked in, we try to be water conscious all the time. With using cloth diapers, when my husband baths out son he leaves the water in the tub and I use that to fill up the diaper soaking bicket – instead of using water from the tap. I use a front load washer which uses less water and only ever do full loads. We never water our lawn – if you dont cut it too short it wont dry out. We also collect rain water from the roof in three large water barrels for watering the garden/trees and other outside uses – if the barrels are raised up you get ok water pressure. also, Any water from glasses, pots etc gets tipped on the indoor plants – especially if you were cooking vegetables, the plants love the vitamins etc that are in the water after boiling – just let the water cool first.
I have rain barrels under all my downspouts. We plan on adding more gutters this year and collecting all the water. I am doing away with all my grass and replacing it with beds that are mulched – requiring less water. I water plants with the dirty water from my horse’s buckets. We never leave the water running when we brush our teeth. I don’t have a paved driveway so any water goes back into the ground and not down the storm drain. I use the right water level on my washer and only run the dishwasher when it is full.