Blog Action Day 2010: How the Selfish Father Can Conserve Water

As part of Blog Action Day, today’s post will be on water conservation and how the selfish father—the father who wants to spend time by himself taking 30 minute showers while singing Huey Lewis and the News, and the father who prides himself on his sprinkler system and water guzzling Kentucky Bluegrass—can help conserve water.  Water conservation has become an increasingly big issue lately; the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars posits that, soon, water everywhere, will be a precious commodity, and many world powers are already vying for its control.  There are a ton of resources online that give lists of how to conserve water, this list, and this one, and this one, and I assume that today there are even more lists since thousands of bloggers around the world have signed up to participate in this effort to spread water conservation awareness.

So what are 10 things the selfish father specifically can do to conserve water?  Mind you, as I mentioned above, the selfish father loves to waste water on himself and making his house and yard look nice. So how can the selfish father and the rest of us modify our behaviors to join the rest of the forward thinking world in conserving water?

To conserve water, the selfish father can

Pee in the woods.

Kids love stopping at gas stations because it means another needless soda or tube of sweet tarts. It’s up to the selfish father not to give in to things that could potentially silence his kids for a few minutes and forego the gas station. When you’re taking a long trip, pull over and go in the woods.  Each time you pee in the woods it saves a gallon of water, just make sure you keep hand sanitizer on board.

Get the proper water heater.

It’s the selfish father’s goal to “find the best deal” on things like water heaters, and then the family ends up waiting 5 minutes for water to get hot. The truth is most of us wait for hot water from showers in the morning.  While this doesn’t account for much water loss on a per person basis, looking at the big picture, waiting for the shower to get hot is the cause of thousands of gallons of perfectly good water going unused down the drain.  If you’re building a new home, do a little research on water heaters.  There are many different kinds—tank, tankless, heat pump, and solar—see what folks are saying about all of these: which get hot the quickest, which use the least amount of energy?  Also, if you already have, or feel like you would like to install a storage tank water heater because of the low initial cost, ask a plumber about installing a return loop, or a recirculating pump system. Both of these methods ensure almost instantaneous hot water.

Streamline his shower procedure.

The selfish father loves his alone time and the shower is a perfect place to get it. However, time spent daydreaming and singing is time ill spent when the water is running.  A shower shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.  Shaving, teeth brushing, and face washing shouldn’t be done while the shower is running. I know it’s easier, but it’s wasteful.  Looking at it this way, a shower should go like this: After using a small amount of water to lather up the loofah/washcloth beforehand, step into the shower, lather up your hair, wash quickly but precisely and get out.

Plant/lay zoysia grass.

Americans love their lawns, and statistics that I just made up show that many believe that greener grass adds to their property value. The selfish father loves his lawn, and is inclined to care for it as if it were the family dog.  This means installing a complicated sprinkler system, and purchasing expensive squares (or seeds, but they require more effort and time, which the selfish father usually doesn’t want to provide) of the greenest grass imaginable—strains like Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass—which require much more water than the average American rainfall to remain lush.  So, as a way to make-up for the world’s shortcomings, sprinklers constantly drizzle water on lawns, sidewalks, passing cars with their windows down, etc.  Some water saving lists recommend “resetting sprinklers” to avoid wasting water on the sides of houses and sidewalks, but that’s still using water that doesn’t need to be used.  A drought resistant strain of grass like zoysia requires much less water than standard grass, and will be fine with the average amount (and even less) of American rainfall—no sprinklers at all.

Not play golf.

The selfish father loves competition, because, if he wins, people will admire him above everyone else.  This is why he loves to play golf.  Golf also allows him, first, to get away from his family for many hours. Second, it allows him to drink constantly.  Third, it doesn’t require a whole lot of physical effort since most of the time recreational golfers are driving around in golf carts with a beverage between their legs.  However, though this behavior certainly needs work, simply playing golf supports the drastic effect golf courses have on the environment.  There are too many negative effects to name here, but let’s just say that a golf course is the diabetes of the landscape. Golf should be avoided because showing support for this pastime encourages constant use of irrigation for entertainment.  It also requires constant chemicals to kill weeds, which, in turn, run off to the lower ground doing who knows what to the world.  Yeah, do something else with your Saturday.

Clean, not spray, the side of the house.

Just like his lawn, the selfish father likes a well-maintained house exterior.  There’s nothing wrong with a nice looking house at all, and efforts should always be made to manicure the lawn and keep everything clean.  People appreciate cleanliness and a clean house exterior and yard contribute to the overall positivity of a neighborhood.  However, since water is so inexpensive people tend to use an abundance of the stuff to drench their houses and decks as they clean them. Many people own or rent pressure washers to get their houses clean, but there are other ways to do this that take a bit more time, sure, but use far less water and no harsh chemicals. For starters, who cares if the water you clean your house with is fresh, perfectly potable water?  Nobody. So using the water from a large rain barrel to do your exterior cleaning is a great idea.  Simply fill a bucket with rainwater and get to scrubbing.  You’ll need soap, so try different combinations of things like borax, baking soda, and vinegar to find the best stuff to get that house clean.  Also, you may need something for mildew as well. You don’t need water for this either, simply spray on full strength lemon juice or vinegar and scrub with a sponge.

Drink less.

It’s no surprise that Americans drink about 22% of their calories.  I can guess, pretty accurately too, that most of this 22% is superfluous calorie intake occurring not to reach the 2000 calorie average our bodies require, but simply because drinks taste good and we don’t want to drink plain old boring water.  The selfish father doesn’t drink much water, because if something tastes good he feels he should have it, is almost entitled to it. This 22% comes from sodas, fruit drinks, beer, and wine, which are all major contributors to how overweight Americans are.  By eliminating some of these superfluous drinks, think of the water just a single family can save.  Before buying drinks with excess calories, simply ask yourself, “Do I need this?”  I’ve talked about this before and it’s the most effective thing for me to control my calorie intake.  Another way to avoid getting drinks from vending machines and such is to always carry a water bottle.  This makes you feel stupid to get an additional drink when you already have water.  All of this, of course, saves plastic as well.

Use ice packs.

The selfish father makes coolers to carry all of his drinks around, and usually fills them with ice from a big bag he buys at the gas station and has to bust up on the ground before pouring it all over his awaiting beverages. This is a useless practice, and can be substituted by keeping previously frozen icepacks in the freezer at all times.  It could also be an opportunity not to run the icemaker in the freezer continuously, saving even more water.

Harvest rainwater.

Rain barrels are very cheap and are designed to catch rain from house runoff.  While there are more complicated units that sit on top of the houses, pump water to underground storage tanks, and then filter it as they pump it into the house to drink, rain barrels are one of those things that everyone should have. The water can be used to wash the house, the car, and water the garden.  Pumps and hoses can even be attached to spray the water.  While the benefits of this should be obvious, the selfish father rarely thinks of a rain barrel as an option, choosing to instead hook his hose to a spigot and douse his SUV, yard, garden, and house in perfectly drinkable water.

Stay aware of the water he and his family uses.

Of course, this could include all of these things and many more, but the selfish father, since he values his time so severely, and tends to spend most of it satisfying himself, doesn’t think of his family as he should, and, of course, doesn’t think of the earth like he should. Staying aware of the water his family uses is important for many reasons, too many to name here, but let’s just say that, like anything, even though it may not seem like it, and it doesn’t cost very much, water is precious.  Please take some time to browse the Internet today and see what everyone is writing about water conservation to learn more about how the lack of fresh running water leads to unnecessary death, reinforces gender roles, and sparks war. This post is small potatoes compared to how serious this issue is, so doing anything you can manage will show your support.

Water is a fundamental right, and, by changing his behavior just a little, the selfish father can help preserve and build excess, which could in turn be provided for those that need it more.