Sacred Living

Rachel's summer was full of magical rainbows and waterfalls

By Rachel Barge

August 19th, 2009

Like many young people basking in the post-collegiate-adulthood-denial period, I took advantage of my “flexible” (or as some might call it, “unemployed”) work schedule this summer to spend three magical weeks in Kauai.  The beaches, sunsets and fresh fruit were all I expected and more, but one aspect of Kauai took me by surprise: the water! And I’m not talking the 360 degrees of saltwater surrounding the island.  I’m talking about the fresh water!  The loads and loads of ever-abundant, ever-flowing, ever-accumulating fresh water!  So fresh!   So clean!  So… watery!!

Excuse my hyperactive enthusiasm there, but as someone who’s been living in drought-ridden California for the past decade, having daily rain, gigantic waterfalls, and constantly abundant drinkable freshwater seemed like a miracle.

In fact, Kauai is home to the “wettest spot on Earth” – which is perhaps why every local I met encouraged me to take the longest hot shower I could fathom in their home, especially since many of them had passive-solar hot water systems.  Realizing I no longer had the oppressive weight of constant drought (or at least ecosystem limits to water availability) on my sun-weary shoulders, I took them up on their offers and went on a binge-showering streak that would have most shower junkies jealous.

Getting a whole new perspective on freshwater brought back my accumulated neurosis on the subject, from my soup-nazi-esque shouting about the faucet running while my brother brushed his teeth, to those times I went a week without showering in college (my mother is cringing, I’m sure).

And as I waded through my beliefs and behaviors regarding water, I began to wonder – are my choices really saving that much water? Are there things I could be doing that would create far greater water savings, and are some things I’m currently doing not really accounting for all that much? It was time, I decided, to overhaul my “water system”.  I’ll share with you my journey of discovery, and perhaps I’ll dispel a few myths for you, too!

The first thing I learned when looking into the subject of water use was a brand new (to me) concept: water footprints! I was very familiar with carbon footprints (the total carbon dioxide emitted by a person, due to products consumed / actions taken), but water footprints were a whole new animal, and made a lot of sense: a water footprint is the total amount of water, direct or indirect, a person consumes through every product they buy or activity they perform.

I discovered a whole new host of terminology when I looked into the EU-based Water Footprint Network, who have been spreading the word on water footprints since 2002.  My favorite resource, however, is an awesome visual diagram created by GOOD Magazine, which gives you a tangible look at the “water impact” of simple choices we make, such as whether to eat chicken or steak for lunch (in that case, opting for chicken takes 287 gallons to produce your lunch, while beef takes 1,500 gallons to produce the same meal).

When faced with a whole new paradigm for thinking about water, it became clear that perhaps the biggest part of my footprint came not from the water I directly used every day, by showering / flushing / cooking / drinking, but that the biggest chunk came from the products I consumed and the energy I used. I figured this out by checking a neat website compiled by the Department of the Interior, which lists water use in the U.S. by sector.  According to them, 52% of freshwater in the U.S. is used to cool Electricity Plants, 32% goes to Agriculture (irrigation and livestock), 11% goes to Public Use (all home needs: drinking, plumbing, yard irrigation, etc), and 5% goes toward Industrial Use.

These facts alone clearly necessitated a priority shift for me.  Freaking out about how long the faucet runs, when the entire residential sector only made up 11% of America’s total water footprint, didn’t really make much sense anymore (especially if it was an isolated action).  Using less electricity, and eating less water-intensive food such as beef, seemed now to be an integral part of any fact-based “water conservation ethic”.  Water is used in all sectors of society, and residential is smaller than it’s neighbors; I determined my actions should reflect that.

I will give a disclaimer to this general theory, though - geography matters. Given the fact that I live in an essentially desert environment (California), limiting my personal direct water use is still incredibly important.  But now I know that reducing my direct gallons-per-day simply isn’t enough.  I have to do more.  I have to get holistic - I have to reduce my total water footprint.  And the more I’ve researched and read, the more it’s become desperately clear that a holistic water conservation ethic is sorely needed in American and around the world.

Countless international organizations, governments, scientific bodies and advocacy groups have been saying for years: water is already becoming scarce in much of the world, and it’s only going to get scarcer. In fact, the World Bank already reports water shortages in 80 countries, affecting the health and economic opportunities for 40% of the planet (2 billion people).  In the United States, water has already begun causing serious conflict; this summer California faced extinction of its salmon population unless water was diverted from agricultural use back to its dwindling streams.  Farmers and fisherman alike saw their livelihoods teeter towards disaster as water became a higher prized commodity than even oil.

As concerned citizens, I’ve discovered there’s a lot we can do to reduce direct water use in our lives, and also make decisions that favor less water-intensive products - hence attacking both major angles of our water footprint.

In terms of direct water use, simply Google-search “water conservation” and you’ll find all the tips you need to cut back at home.  Here’s a list of 100 tips, that include checking your plumbing regularly for leaks, making sure your toilet isn’t constantly re-filling, and installing inexpensive “low-flow” faucets and shower-heads.  For the more ambitious water-saver, you can replace your current appliances with energy-star dish-washers and washing machines, and switch your lawn from thirsty grass to drought-tolerant native plants (using drip irrigation, of course).  To go less capitol intensive, you can resort to my old college tricks: shorter or less frequent showers, and the old bathroom adage, “If it’s yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down!” Mom loved that one.

In terms of cutting down the indirect aspect of your water footprint, it’s abundantly clear that reducing your energy use is priority #1 - our national practice of turning drinkable freshwater into mercury-laden steam rising from coal-fired smoke-stacks sure seems a waste, doesn’t it?  Residential solar, on the other hand, is made easy with cool companies like 1BOG and rebates from Obama, and can give you guilt-free showers for a lifetime!

As far as buying stuff that takes less water to make, it’s a bit more of a holistic process. The bottom-line thing to keep in mind: do I really need this product? If so, do the materials involved come from intensely irrigated agriculture (like cotton grown in the desert)?  If so, finding a more sustainable alternative, like hemp or bamboo fabric, could be a win-win.  If the product is extremely energy-intensive to make (like your third iPod), or will become just another energy-sucking gadget after a few months (like those digital picture frames that stay on 24/7), again, question the wisdom of your purchase.  Think of the children.  Think of Goodwill (where you can get something used).  Think of… salmon gasping for water.  Or salmon singing, that might help too.

Food-wise, the Water Footprint Network offers a cool tool to figure out the water-footprint of your diet (note: you’ll need a separate website to convert from the metric system to the American measurement system, hehe).  For a short list of the water footprint of common foods (with pictures!), check out this Treehugger article.

Aside from computer calculations telling you what to eat, you can also use common sense: fruits and veggies that are certified organic and in-season are generally less water-intensive than conventional or out-of-season ones.  If you live in a desert climate like my cousins in Phoenix, buying indoor-grown hydroponic veggies can be a great way to get your salad fix more sustainably (climate-controlled hydroponic operations are 80% less water intensive than irrigating the desert… who knew!).

In the end, all this research and re-assessment of my water-saving practices really transformed what I had formerly held as important, and gave me a whole new set of weapons to fight my unfortunate status as a water-hogger (relative to folks in other countries).  Bottom line - as soon as we take a conscious look at the amount of water it takes to fuel our lives, we can find our own unique ways to cut back. I wish you luck in trimming down and getting that water footprint looking good for these last few weeks of bone-dry summer!

Rachel Barge is Director of Campus InPower, a nonprofit consulting firm that develops financial strategies to support sustainability initiatives, such as water conservation, for universities across the country.