How to save water in your personal and domestic hygiene
One of the most important values for us is being able to make a difference with our actions, helping to achieve a better future and raising awareness about one of the biggest issues that affects our world: the water crisis.
As you may already know, our first product launch is a stylish hand sanitizer, with a recyclable packaging, that keeps your hands clean and moisturized. Our product is linked to our commitment with the global water crisis, aiming 20% of our profits to create wells in Africa. Besides, by using a hand sanitizer, you contribute to save 2920 liters per person per year, which is the quantity that we waste washing our hands.
We want you to help us be the change, so today we are explaining some of our daily actions that we can change to help reduce the waste of water in our personal hygiene and our household chores.
People washing their hands
We all like to take a relaxing shower after a long day, right? But, how many liters of water do we waste every time we take a shower? According to the OMS, a 10 minute shower can take 200 liters of water. That is the same quantity that just one person drinks in 100 days. We need to reduce our time in the shower, at least to 5 minutes, and learn to close the tap when we are not using it. Also, we can use flow reducers in our taps, that mix air with water to make us think we are getting the same amount of water, but we are actually saving up to 50%. We also need to control our consumption when we wash our teeth, shave, wash our faces… a lot of people tend to leave their tap open while they do it and, without realizing it, they waste up to 30 liters in just a couple of minutes.
The same happens when we wash our dishes, or when we use our electrical appliances like the washing machine or the dishwasher. We can save up to 40% of water by using our appliances in full charge and not hand washing. This way, we reduce the times we use them per week. Also, if we decide to invest in energy-efficient appliances, we can save up to 30 liters of water per wash. The washing program is also important to help reduce water consumption, usually being the longest or the Eco programs the ones that save more water. Short programs need more water and more pressure to be able to wash in less time, so we are also wasting more energy if we use them.
People are also used to rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. This is not necessary and it causes a huge waste of water. If there is any food on the dishes, just clean it with a napkin and throw it in the bin. Another way to save water in the kitchen is by washing our vegetables in a bowl and not with our tap open. We can then reuse it to water the plants, for example.
If you have a garden, you can schedule your irrigation system to start at night or first thing in the morning, to avoid the sun’s radiation and prevent water evaporation. Drip irrigation systems are the most efficient but, if you don’t have it, we recommend using a watering can instead of a hose. If you also have a pool, you can save a lot of water by using efficient disinfection methods, like active oxygen or salt chlorinator, that will help you maintain your pool’s water from 3 to 6 years, instead of changing it every year.
It is important that we learn to establish more sustainable water consumption habits. Developed countries are lucky to have access to drinkable water, but they take it for granted and don’t look after this important resource, not having in mind that less than 1% of the world’s water is drinkable. These actions may seem small but, if we all start to embrace them, we will achieve a significant reduction in our water consumption. It is time to stop worrying only about our own conveniences and start looking for the issues around us, the fact that it doesn’t exist in our home doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in the world. We must be aware of our privileges and help those who don’t have them.