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How to Easily Reduce Your Domestic Water Consumption

This week is Water Saving Week! Waterwise, the leading UK non-profit organisation promoting water efficiency, organise this annual event aiming to raise awareness of issues surrounding water consumption.
sea water waves water consumption

Water UK has shown the risk of droughts resulting from climate change and population growth, and have set aims for us all to reduce our current domestic consumption of 149 litres a day (1) to 118 litres by 2050. (2)

Okay so some of the water we use is obvious and visible to us; namely, domestic consumption such as showers, laundry and cooking. But some isn’t quite as overt – our consumption of certain industrial products equates to 167 litres a day (3). How much water is required to produce a new pair of shoes or the daily newspaper? That’s a question people tend not to ask themselves. To add to that, the water associated with food production tallies up to 3496 litres per person every day (3). That’s a lot of wasted water.

Here at Hark, we are keen to do our bit to reduce our water consumption and use water wisely. By being more aware of the water utilised to produce the products we use on a daily basis, we can make conscious swaps to become more water-efficient. So with that in mind, let’s dig into the facts and help improve the way our homes perform…

Electronics

How often do you upgrade your smartphone? Are you the one with the latest gadgets, upgrading every 12 months? The production of one smartphone utilises 900 litres of water (4). Annual phone upgrades would cost you 2.5 litres of water per DAY for the use of a smartphone over a year.

Eco Tips

Invest in good quality tech that will last you longer, and resist the temptation to regularly upgrade. Both your wallet and the world’s water supply will thank you! Once you do replace your gadgets, always recycle them.

In The Kitchen

Leave the washing up! There, I said it! Wait until you have a larger amount of dishes to wash before filling the bowl, rather than washing a few plates with a running tap wash. Handwashing uses only 8 litres per bowl wash, vs 30 litres for a running tap wash (5), what an astounding difference!

If you ever needed an excuse for a cuppa, this is it. A cup of tea requires 30 litres of water, compared to the 170 litres required for a glass of orange juice, 238 litres for a glass of milk or 140 litres for a cup of coffee (6).

Simple swaps such as steaming vegetables rather than boiling, eating local produce and reducing meat consumption can help conserve water as well as reduce our contributions towards global warming.

(3), (5)

Eco Tips

  • Use old coffee grounds as fertiliser! Coffee grounds contain essential nutrients which help plants to thrive, just sprinkle over the soil around the base of your plants ☕️
  • Shop for brands that have a green mindset – some brands don’t ship products via air for example, whilst others help fund energy efficiency and reforestation projects with every purchase. We encourage you to shop local, reducing air miles and supporting small independent businesses 👕
  • For meat-eaters, choosing grass-fed meats, reducing consumption, or having ‘meat-free Mondays’ is a step in a less consuming direction 🥩

Clothing

Did you know that nearly 20 % of the worlds wasted water is a result of the fashion industry? In a year, the wasted water could have filled 32 million Olympic size swimming pools (7). But the issue doesn’t stop there; water demand is expected to increase by 50% by 2030.

One large culprit is fast fashion. The production of one cotton t-shirt requires 2700 litres of water, while one pair of jeans requires 3780 litres of water (8-9). The more frequently we revamp our wardrobes and buy items that only get used once or twice, the more we contribute towards the issue of water waste.

Furthermore, synthetic materials contain plastic fibres, which can break down into microplastics. These eventually make their way into the oceans, harming the creatures that call these waters their home.

Eco tips

  • Invest in higher quality materials and clothes that will last. Recycle clothes at charity shops or clothes banks when you do want to dispose of garments.

  • Buying certified organic cotton garments means your clothes will be produced without the use of pesticides and fertilisers which further contribute to water pollution.

  • Wash your clothes on eco mode and at a low temperature.

  • Shop for sustainable brands which are transparent about their sustainability goals and impact.

  • Here at Hark, we use Rapanui for our merchandise. Rapanui use natural materials, with garments produced using renewable energy. Clothing is made-to-order to reduce waste and sent out with plastic free packaging.

  • Some of our other favourites at Hark are Nudie (10), a denim manufacturer, producing jeans with 100% organic cotton and offering free repairs of clothing purchased. Denim brand, Levis, (11), have also started sustainability campaigns, targeting where materials are sourced from, how water is utilised in production and recycling options. BAM (12), is also a great stop for sustainable fashion for both men and women.

Consume Smarter, Consume Less

Despite being named our Blue Planet, the Antarctic actually holds 90% of the fresh water on earth, with less than 1% being available for use (13).

Join the team this week by thinking how you can make small changes and be more conscious about our daily choices. Together we can help put less of a strain on our precious fresh water supply.

Consume smarter and consume less.

References

(1)- https://www.statista.com/statistics/827278/liters-per-day-household-water-usage-united-kingdom-uk/

(2)- https://nic.org.uk/app/uploads/NIC-Preparing-for-a-Drier-Future-26-April-2018.pdf

(3)- https://thewaterweeat.com/

(4)- https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59480/surprising-water-footprints-15-common-things

(5)- https://www.water.org.uk/news-item/vast-majority-of-brits-have-no-idea-how-much-water-they-use-each-day/

(6)- https://lochnesswatergardens.com/blogs/pondblog/surprising-water-usage-numbers-infographic

(7)- https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/wastewater-fashion-s-grotesk-sustainability-problem/2020050548770

(8)- https://www.theconsciouschallenge.org/ecologicalfootprintbibleoverview/water-clothing

(9)- https://www.fashionrevolution.org/the-future-of-denim-part-3-waste-not-water-not-innovation/

(10)- https://www.nudiejeans.com/sustainability/reports-and-policies#sustainability-report

(11)- https://www.levistrauss.com/

(12)- https://bambooclothing.co.uk/bam-story/

(13)- https://www.waterwise.org.uk/save-water/

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