Conserving Water is a Recycling Strategy Many Toronto Homeowners Forget About
A lot of Toronto homeowners have been doing absolutely fantastic jobs at recycling and minimizing landfill waste output for themselves but one area that’s often forgotten is water. So many homeowners may already be thinking, they already don’t use very much water, is there even an opportunity to change the amount they use week to week? The answer – there may be.
In summer, water consumption goes up in Toronto. This isn’t unexpected. Especially when we’re going through a particularly hot and dry summer, water consumption’s up and sometimes a shortage presents itself. Water conservation is important to our community because it takes resources to clean and distribute water. This isn’t to mention the water we don’t really need that gets eaten up because of our inattentiveness or our lack of education.
The average home in Toronto uses 340 litres of water per day. Come summer, for some, this consumption creeps up to over 670 litres a day due to things like lawn sprinkling, power washing, and various outdoor uses. This just goes to show how much water we use every day in the GTA. Can you guess what the #1 source of our water use is? Believe it or not, it’s our toilets. The toilet, albeit necessary, takes up a huge amount of water. In fact, over the course of the day, a toilet can take up anywhere from 90 to 110 litres to continue working.
Knowing all this, you may be asking yourself where there’s opportunity to improve water usage. For that answer, we look at how water’s being used. Toilets are the top source of water consumption per house, taking up about 30% of our water. What else makes up the list are clothes washers at 23%, sink faucets at 14%, showers at 14%, avoidable leaks at 10%, baths at 6%, dishwashers at 6%, and 1% making up of other uses. Considering this, check to see if you have leaks around the house. That’s first. After leaks are taken care of, are there other opportunities? For some, there may be and for others there are not.
Inside the house, here’s a few ways to cut down on your water usage. Keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge instead of running the tap and waiting for it to go cold in the summer. Don’t leave water running when washing the dishes and instead, fill the sink. Turn off the water when brushing teeth. Install a low-flow showerhead if you don’t have one already. Outside the house, there are other opportunities to cut down on water waste – such as to not water the lawn in summer, to sweep the driveway instead of using a hose, to put leaves or mulch around trees holding in more moisture, and considering adding a rain barrel to the yard to save water.
We are so fortunate here in Canada to have water resources and an abundant supply of safe drinking water. 748 million people worldwide do not have access to the basic water needs for hygiene and food. That’s not us. When we conserve, we make it possible to continue enjoying Canada’s unique resources for decades to come. In an era of supply concerns, it’s our turn to minimize waste and be smart about everything we consume. As Torontonians, let’s save a little more water.
