Are You a Gobbler or a Sipper?

During a local forum on water usage in my town recently, I was asked are you a gobbler or a sipper of our natural resource - water?  There is no doubt as a homeowner, conservationist and sustainably green realtor that I am a sipper.  But how about you?

Protecting one's water supply is a serious matter and it is not a never ending resource.  Current research indicates that the world's use of water is increasing twofold every 20 years!  It is expected that within 30 years that the demand for water will be greater than the supply by 30%.  Many people think that water will become the next 'gold' in the world and we are already seeing how certain parts of the United States controls water for other parts...somewhat a disquieting thing.  We take so much for granted and the ample supply of water we have available to us is one of those resources that warrants more conservation.  How many times have you driven by a home where the sprinklers run and run...?  Has watering our lawn become a luxury and should we consider designing our homeowner grounds with more sustainable plantings to survive with less watering?  It is all possible to do.

Locally we are finding that the average water consumption is 3 times higher in the summer than in the winter for households.  That is a measurable difference...we are talking like 25,000 more gallons used for about 30% of the North Kingstown households.  Well it doesn't seem that education on this dilemma is working so what should be done about it is hitting the consumer in their pockets the Town Council believes. 

It is not just the aquifers that are impacted a URI professor said.  It is the streams, rivers and ponds and the animals that live around them that are effected.  Ms. Veeger, the URI Hydrologist at this local forum, said that it will make a difference in the ultimate economic growth and development of our community if we don't address our water usage successfully.

The North Kingstown Town Council is considering an adoption of a mandate that will charge the largest users of our water supply double that of other residential users.  It definitely will make people take note of their usage better and adjust it accordingly. 

As for me, I still use a clothesline a lot so not to use my dryer, used CFLs in my lamps when possible as noted in Michael Thornton's post LEDs are better, use soaker hoses and rain barrels when needed in my garden, only do super loads of laundry to use less water...and how are you conserving water - so are you a gobbler or a sipper of one of our most valuable and precious resource - water?

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