Water use - The right thing to do

Of all the tips on saving water the final one I found on the list was

"Conserve water because it’s the right thing to do" 

This is my reasoning but hey, What is the right thing to do?

Are environmentalists just having us worry over nothing? Does the vast use of industry make our water use pail into insignificance? Well yes no and maybe.

There are billions of us, many of whom do not have access to a tap. Many of us do have water and live in a country where the use is not a huge issue. Thai people can run water all day at no cost or concern - but they can't drink it without filtration. The rainy country of England can not provide enough water for its residence in summer due to population crowding in certain areas and poor infrastructure. Australia does not have enough water for its residents most of whom live in the same street.

You can see that it is mainly the equatorial countries plus the highly populated section of Australia that put most strain on their environment when it comes to water use over supply. That red blob on Australia is where I live and it is a High Stress area.

My issue is not that people use water but abuse. I have traveled Australia and seen in every state and many towns, many hotels, camping grounds and hostels, signs reminding people about water use. "Don't let the tap run as you clean your teeth." Fountains with "Recirculated water in use". It is also illegal to wash your car, you must instead go to a place designed for the job where they have efficient means, recycling and so on.

Maybe my housemates don't care but I think in this case, they just "don't know". They have not seen the signs, the posters, they do not have good English so have not heard the reminders on Radio and TV so they bring their habits from home and carry on the same here.

My idea is to stand in the kitchen with 20 or 40 2 liter bottles of spring water and stand pouring it down the drain as they watch. They would probably just laugh at the funny foreigner so this demonstration would be at a loss but I may get the opportunity to say "See? See? Do you see? Do you get it now? Do you? You get it? You get it now? Now? Now do you get it?"

Anyway, My efforts to be angry are making me laugh so I'll go back to life and let this ride out however it goes.

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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao

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No one should read this, I'm venting some steam. 

I left it too late but after 3 months of hearing "PHhheeeuuuuuuuuuuuuush" as a house mate used the tap on full power to wash anything from a fork to a plate, and he washes a lot of stuff all together...

I walked up to him and looked on, as he noticed me he turned (leaving the tap running on full power) he gawped at me.

I said we can drink that. You are wasting a valuable resource that this country does not have a lot of. I'm not trying to say anything bad (Thai's lose face easily and you must be very polite to them) but please take care with the water.

He has not spoken to me for a week, 3 nights he did not come home and stayed with a friend instead, and we feel he is probably in the motions of moving out.

I wonder if it helped at all. We now have a bad vibe in the house and he will just move his bad habit to a house where they don't complain.

Each morning my not so random act of kindness is to put away all the washing up that people leave draining, empty the bins they leave overflowing, my wife cleans the bathroom and folds up clothes they put out to dry and forget about.

Kindness that goes consistently unnoticed or a voice of reason? Perhaps the kind acts of no reward are best as speaking upsets the nest.

I want to find someone/thing to blame as this is not the first time. Allow me to rant - feel free to close this page and go and read something more rewarding instead.

[Note that these people are "good Buddhists" they have pictures of Buddha, pray at night and are very polite in normal conversation] We have had a burned rice cooker - no one, not even those who last used it knew who did it. Things go missing, no one knew who or where. The shower is the type that sucks on to the tap with a rubber wazzit and it falls off, they leave it and the resulting gush of water and go about their day. Two members of the house enjoy cooking deserts and this involves (with not one ounce of exaggeration) 3 gas hobs, 3 pans and over 3 hours of slow cooking. Admittedly they can be cooking curry and other things along side but the fact remains, long drawn out cooking time.

We pointed out that if you boil just enough water in a kettle, then place it in the pan, with a pan lid, that cooking is both quick and efficient. They cook with no lid and do not use the kettle. We pointed out that boiling a full kettle for a cup of tea is silly for many reasons, your time being one that may relate to the selfish minded, but of course, the kettle is often found half full of tepid water. We have a sign over the rice cooker that says to turn it off when not in use (yes this actually had to be said)...

The list unfortunately does go on and gets no more interesting. The basic premise being absolute wasteful, mindless behavior.

Ok, one more. They shower, extendedly, then blow dry their hair. The girls who have a larger room and its own bathroom used to have the bathroom lights on all the time, simply closing the bathroom door to shut out the light from their bedroom. When my wife saw this happening one day she asked. They replied with a smile that 'yes, what a good idea it was as the light was always on when they needed it'.

This level of, can I say, stupi.. lack of awareness, selfishness, is just so shocking to the greenie in me who would like to see us care for the planet.

I can't take them to the depths of my philosophical reasoning on any one point but even on the simple level of "if we all did that, then what?" I feel would go over their heads.

My wife has overheard conversations in Thai that say how we, especially me, are tight, Australia is a rich country and they all pay their rent so should be free to do as they like. And this would be lovely if water was made from money and gas and electricity broke down after use to form rice and cake - but the harsh reality is that, while we all love the idea of getting on, freely enjoying our life, that man is at war with nature.

Man's prime weapon is selling power to those with no education and importantly no gumption.

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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao

Cook for free

A $6 solar cooker made from cardboard can not only cook food but also sterilize water set to help three billion people reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Kenya-based Norwegian creator of the cooker, Jon Bøhmer, has been awarded $75,000 to put the idea into production.

The cooker is made from two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, with either paper or straw insulation placed in between; an acrylic cover on top lets in and traps sunlight. Black paint on the inner box, and silver foil on the outer one, help concentrate the heat. The trapped rays make the inside hot enough to cook casseroles, bake bread and boil water [CNN]. Covering the cooking pot with a transparent cover retains heat and water [BBC], and temperatures inside the pot can reach about 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the news

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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao