Water conservation is a big issue, given both the current drought afflicting the Southwest US, and more generally, given global climate change. While numerous methods have been prescribed by experts to control our use (abuse) of this valuable resource, many of them are limited in their application. For instance, irrigation of lawns applies only to those nuts that water their lawns.. More widespread, and therefore a more powerful means to conserve water.
The average toilet uses 1.5 gallons of water per flush, and the average person goes pee 4-6 times per day. There are 6.6 billion people currently inhabiting the earth- say 1/2 of them currently using the bathroom *as opposed to diapers, etc*. Get my drift? So please take the poll, I’m trying to understand better people’s toileting habits in an attempt to better understand how much water could be saved by limiting the number of times you (we) flush the toilet.
EDIT: I moved the poll over to the sidebar- so go vote over there. Looked like the javascript was slowing page loads- and now that blogger offers a polling service- I’ll use that.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Mario Pineda-Krch // Jul 21, 2007 at 7:47 pm
The world would be a better place if everyone practiced the rule of the flush: “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down.”
2 Anonymous // Jul 21, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I was so going to say
“if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down.”How ever in a public bathroom i am always groced out to see opp in the toilet. Granted it is also usualy on the floor…but at home I like to stick to the rule stated above. =) I am currantly trying to have my kids flush when its brow…phewww
3 DiscoveredJoys // Jul 23, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Of course if you are really thinking about saving water, you should also think about how often you wash, bathe, and shower.
While I acknowledge that washing your hands is good hygine, there does appear to be a trend for washing one’s face and body more often - whether it’s needed or not.
The number of times you wash/bathe/shower is almost certainly higher than ‘necessary’, although some people will need to wash more frequently by nature of their employment, age, diet, or health.
Same as flushing, people need to consider if each wash is necessary…
I can see the world of the future where smelling like a human being (as long as it isn’t rank) will be seen as good citizenship.
4 Anonymous // Jul 27, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I don’t think the results to this poll will be very telling because the type of person who would bother to respond to a water conservation poll is definitely going to be more aware of eco issues than the type of person who wouldn’t. I would further argue that the simple fact that someone is reading a blog would indicate that they’re more likely than the average person to be knowledgeable about eco issues (and thus more likely not to flush every single time they pee).
5 Matt // Jul 27, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Oh yes, I agree that sampling is biased- people reading blogs and science blogs are more likely to be eco-aware- BUT, even given the poor sampling, there is still almost 50% of people that flush EVERY SINGLE TIME. Just imagine the massive amt. of water that could be saved by just 1/2 of these folks..
6 Pwhndvve // Aug 9, 2008 at 9:47 am
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