Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth and yet despite this scarcity of water, Australians are among the highest consumers of water per capita in the world. In honour of World Water Day we’ve come up with some clever water-saving hacks that you can use to reduce your personal consumption!

PHOTO FROM @AQUABUMPS

LET'S START WITH YOUR MORNING ROUTINE...

Take a quick shower (ideally under 4 minutes).

You can do it! Since we use up to 45 liters of water per minute while lathering up, reducing your minutes in the shower can make a big difference. You can also replace your showerhead to reduce the liters you use while washing (get a water-saving showerhead here). One of my favourite ways to limit shower time is by playing a pump-up song in the bathroom. Not only does it put me in a great mood to start the day, when the song ends I know that I should start to rinse off and finish up!

Brush your teeth and wash your face in the sink.

And make sure you turn off the faucet while you brush and scrub!

Indulged in a nice bath? Consider using the water to spritz house plants or your lawn.

Showers typically use much less water than the average bath, but when you need to soak at the end of a long day reusing the water from your tub is an awesome way to conserve H2O.

OK WHAT ABOUT THE KITCHEN...

PHOTO BY @IKEA

Keep a reusable water bottle in the fridge overnight.

This way you don’t have to run
the tap water until it cools down when you fill up your glass in the morning!

Don’t run the dishwasher unless it’s completely full.

And if you don’t have a dishwasher? Plug the sink and wash your dishes in a soapy bath instead of keeping the faucet on, then use a basin of water to rinse them off.

Don’t get rid of water that you used to boil foods!

Use pasta or veggie water to hydrate your plants instead.

PHOTO BY @SHOPLUXCLOTHING

PHOTO BY @KARLYKLOSS

Make Mondays meatless.

The water used to produce a piece of meat is much higher than what it takes to make corresponding servings of things like beans, veggies, and grains. Less than a single kilogram of beef consumes 6800 liters of water while the same amount of wheat  consumes 522 litres. Cutting down on your meat consumption can significantly lower your personal contribution to shrinking water reserves.

OTHER HANDY TIPS…

Wash your clothes in cold water.

Not only will it keep them from shrinking and fading, it will reduce the amount of electricity your washing machine uses (90% of it goes into heating water).

PHOTO BY @ANTLERANDMOSS

Stock your garden with gorgeous native plants that need minimal watering.

We love these. And don’t water your lawn every day, most grasses will thrive with a watering schedule of every 5-10 days.

Finally, buy a cute t-shirt!

Cotton-on is doing a wonderful promotion where they donate proceeds from the sales of this t-shirt  and tote bag to provide clean drinking water to children in need.

PHOTO BY @COTTONONFOUNDATION

Story By: Zoe Brown

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