Step 1

Everyday we do numerous things as part of our routine. I start every morning the same way I brush my teeth, take a shower, get dressed and grab a water bottle on my way out the door. There are many small things that accompany these tasks that we may not notice.  It just so happens that many of these involve an essential part of life. Water.  We use water for almost everything. I, like many other Americans take advantage of our easy access to water. I take our water supply for granted and usually unknowingly waste a lot of it daily. This a problem because fresh water accounts for only three percent of the water supply. This means that clean and drinkable water is a finite resource, and with our planet’s growing population this could become more and more of an issue in the future. The behaviors I am planning to change to combat this problem are to conserve water by taking shorter showers, and ensuring that I don’t use as much water while I’m brushing my teeth, washing my hands etc.  Another thing that goes hand in hand with the conservation of clean drinking water is our frequent and over-usage of plastic water bottles. These water bottles are often not recycled which creates an environmental problem. In my daily routine I drink at least one bottle of water a day, I will try to cut this down to zero. I will do this by purchasing a refillable bottle. My main challenge for all of these changes will be the difficulty of breaking from my routine. I have been taking long showers and abusing my access to clean water for essentially my entire life without a second thought. The tests I about my consumption patterns and ecological footprint showed me that I consume much more than the average American, and that my ecological footprint is also larger than average. My behaviors need to change and I will try with this challenge to change my routines.

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/bottle-filling-stations.html#single

Tory Klatt