Every drop counts
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Recently, I took a day trip to Red Rock Canyon State Park. I was enchanted and delighted by the blooming desert. It’s tough to go hiking when you’re trying not to step on the flowers! We stopped for a water break, but my constant companion, Coyote, “the Wonder Dog”, was not very thirsty. Sitting on a rock with his leftover water in my hand, I looked down at a carpet of tiny spring plants struggling in the sandy soil. It suddenly struck me that, at that moment, every drop did count. The bit of water I was about to spill on the ground was a matter of life and death. A few drops of water would be enough for some of these tiny annual plants to bloom and set seed for next spring. For a moment, I sat frozen with the weight of responsibility. Then carefully sprinkled the water.
The little bit of water you save does matter. In fact, it’s the only thing that matters. Together we are powerful beyond imagining. Here’s an example.
A few years ago, Californians went through a major power shortage with blackouts in the San Diego area and rolling brownouts throughout the state. The situation was analyzed, the finger was pointed, and we all got back to business as usual. What you don’t hear about is what happened during the crisis when the word went out via the media for all of us to conserve energy. We cut back on electric use so much that the big power companies that had purchased emergency power off the grid at exorbitant rates, had to sell it back at a big loss. That was you and me turning off the light when we left the room.
Here’s my favorite tip to save a little bit of water. Just turn it down! With modern faucet handles that you push or pull, it is really easy to turn the water on full blast, and actually kind of difficult to turn it on just a bit. At least at my house where the faucets are old and sticky. Here’s your challenge for the week. Every time you use a bathroom or kitchen faucet, try using less. What situations do you find where a trickle of water is working just as well as full blast? I’m hoping after a week, you’ll have developed some different water use habits. Water mindfulness – priceless!
Sam at Santa Fe Motel at 120 Tehachapi Blvd. replaced all of the old 5 gallon per flush toilets in 24 rooms with Niagara Stealth 0.8 gallon per flush toilets (available at Henry’s Home for Less in Tehachapi). He got free low flow showerheads and faucet aerators from TCCWD, and received $3,600 in rebates. The Motel water use was cut almost in half, from a long-time average of 34,000 gallons per month to 18,000 gallons last month.
Way to go, Sam!
