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Why Is Water Conservation Important?
- With and only 3% all the water on Earth fit for consumption, it is crucial that we conserve water.
- Experts weighing in at World Water Week in Stockholm estimate that half of the irrigation water used around the world is lost to wasted food-the equivalent every year to half of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, or (1,380 cubic kilometers).
- In the U.S. alone, we throw away or waste about 30% of our food or about 11 trillion gallons of irrigation water.
- Conserving water also prevents greenhouse gas emissions associated with treating and distributing water.
- If all Americans cut down their shower time to 5 mins, we would save enough water to fill 1.9 million Olympic swimming pools each year.
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What We’re Doing About this at ÍÑ¿ã°É Bay
SustainEastBay and Student Housing & Residence Hall have partnered together to host a water conservation competition for the residence halls, to educate students how to conserve water. The goal of this competition is to motivate people and to foster a community that recognizes the economic, environmental, and social importance of conserving water. We hope to instill a sense of awareness among students, so they can make conscious decisions to reduce their water-waste footprint.
The competition will run through the Fall semester:
The residence hall that has the lowest percentage of water use per resident will win prizes for the entire hall and major bragging rights! Residents can also post a picture of their shower timer or playlist on social media and tag @SustainEastBay to win a grand prize.
What can you do to conserve water?
Reduce food waste by:
- Buying only what you need.
- Composting your food waste.
- Buying food from local sources.
- Getting creative with your leftovers and turning them into new recipes.
- Calculating your water footprint and learning more about how to save water at
In your residence hall/home:
- Take 5-minute showers.
- Turn off the faucet while not in use.
- Wash dishes and laundry in full load only.
- Report water leaks immediately.
- Carry a refillable water bottle.
For more tips and tools to help conserve water, please visit @SustainEastBay on Instagram. To get involved with future ÍÑ¿ã°É Bay sustainability efforts, contact sustainability@csueastbay.edu.