How You Can Give the Earth's Simplest Gift

This Thanksgiving, the centerpiece of our table will be very simple: a goblet of clear water.

Why? Because here in a country where we can bring fresh water gushing from our spigots at a moment's whim, it's easy to forget what a rare and precious blessing that fresh water is.

Rare - the element that covers 70% of the Earth's surface? Indeed. Just take a look at the numbers, drawn from the University of Michigan, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Water.org.

• While 70% of our planet’s surface is covered in water, 97.5% of that water is salty; only 2.5% is fresh. Nearly 70% of Earth’s fresh water is frozen in the polar icecaps and the Greenland glacier. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or in deep, inaccessible aquifers. Only 0.007% of all water on earth is fresh and available for human use.
• Of the available water that is used globally, just 8% serves the basic daily needs of nearly 7 billion humans. Agriculture consumes 80%; industry consumes 12%, and much of that water is not reusable when it is returned to the global supply.
• According to the U.N., a human being needs a minimum of 13.2 gallons per day for drinking, sanitation, bathing and cooking. However, many people in drought-stricken nations get only 4 to 5 gallons of water per day.
• Almost 1 billion men, women and children lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion lack access to safe sanitation. Every year, 3.575 million people die from water-related illnesses - 84% of them children under 14 years of age.
• Meanwhile, here in the U.S., 20 states are facing shortages...while the average American uses 80-100 gallons of purified water per person per day. Your 5-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day
  

Bottom line? Global freshwater demands are increasing while supply dwindles due to drought, pollution, and melting polar ice caps and glaciers. It’s up to us now to be aware of our water usage, and to conserve that dwindling supply where we can.

How can you do this? You can begin by discovering your daily water use with a household water audit.Then,once you’ve discovered where you’re using (or losing) the most water, you can begin making changes:

• Repair leaks yourself, or call in a plumber
• Install aerators in your kitchen and bathroom sinks to reduce the flow rate to 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm) or less
• Install low-flow showerheads (2.0 gpm or less) to save water while you get a spa-quality shower
• Replace your water-guzzling toilet with a Water Sense model (1.28 - 1.6 gallons per flush), or install a dual-flush converter, a Toilet Tank bag or flow diverter
• Check the age and water usage of your dishwasher and washing machine. Ideally, a dishwasher should use less than 7 gallons per load (gpl); a washing machine should use less than 23 gpl

That's all very well, you may be saying - but how does this help the victims of the global water crisis? Well, there are several ways you can help directly.

• Rather than giving a tschotchke to sit on a friend's table, consider giving a gift of water to a thirsty community in their name through Seva Foundation. 
• Or browse through this list of water charities, and give where you can.
• Finally, browse through my website for products to reduce water use in your own home...5% of the profits from any water conservation products you order  will be donated to WaterForPeople.org.