Brushing teeth more effficiently for the environment

Brushing my teeth is healthy for me. The way I usually brush my teeth, however, is not healthy for the environment.

When the task for ‘Sustainable behavior challenge’ was announced in class, I’ve been thinking for a long time to find one of my behaviors that I need to change. Then, I asked my roommate for help, and she asked me if I brush my teeth without turning off the tap. So I didn’t even realize that I was wasting water with the way I brush my teeth. This is because letting the water running was just like a normal habit for me.

But actually, it is a very bad habit because I am wasting clean water, although water is the most precious natural resource on earth and we cannot live without it.

Besides, clean water doesn’t come out from the tap by miracle. It comes from ground-water sources such as well that taps an underground reservoir called aquifer or spring or from surface-water sources like rivers, lakes or reservoir. Then, it takes hard work and a lot of money to bring it to our home or school from collecting the rain and all the processes needed to treat the water to make it usable, to getting the cleaned water for us. So, I also waste money and energy.

Moreover, I prevent the other people from using the clean water because I use it unduly, and there are even people who don’t have access to drinking water.

So, from now on, I decide to turn off the tap and use a glass to hold a small amount of water for rinsing my mouth to manage water more efficiently and have less impact on the environment.