Pork costs water to produce, and traditional pork production-to make your sausage, bacon, and chops-has also been the cause of some water pollution, as pig waste runs into local water sources.So, consider how far your food has to travel, and buy local to cut your water footprint. There are also water costs embedded in the transportation of food (gasoline costs water to make). A serving of poultry costs about 90 gallons of water to produce.Another way is to choose grass-fed, rather than grain-fed, since it can take a lot of water to grow corn and other feed crops. One of the easiest ways to slim your water footprint is to eat less meat and dairy. That quarter pounder is worth more than 30 average American showers.The water it takes to produce the average American diet alone-approximately 1,000 gallons per person per day-is more than the global average water footprint of 900 gallons per person per day for diet, household use, transportation, energy, and the consumption of material goods.The average pool takes 22,000 gallons of water to fill, and if you don't cover it, hundreds of gallons of water per month can be lost due to evaporation.Climate counts-where you live plays a role in how much water you use, especially when it comes to tending to a yard.Nearly 60% of a person's household water footprint can go toward lawn and garden maintenance.Hand washing generally uses about 20 gallons of water each time. Energy Star dishwashers use about 4 gallons of water per load, and even standard machines use only about 6 gallons.Using a machine is actually more water efficient than hand washing, especially if you run full loads. Dishwashing is a relatively small part of your water footprint-less than 2% of indoor use-but there are always ways to conserve.Save water by making sure to adjust the settings on your machine to the proper load size. Nearly 22% of indoor home water use comes from doing laundry.Most front-loading washing machines are energy- and water-efficient, using just over 20 gallons a load, while most top-loading machines, unless they are energy-efficient, use 40 gallons per load.If you still have a standard toilet, which uses close to 3.5 gallons a flush, you can save by retrofitting or filling your tank with something that will displace some of that water, such as a brick. All of those flushes can add up to nearly 20 gallons a day down the toilet.It takes about 70 gallons of water to fill a bathtub, so showers are generally the more water-efficient way to bathe.Every time you shave minutes off your use of hot water, you also save energy and keep dollars in your pocket.If you use a low-flow showerhead, you can save 15 gallons of water during a 10-minute shower.Short of installing new water-efficient fixtures, one of the easiest, most effective ways to cut your footprint is by repairing leaky faucets and toilets. On average, 10 gallons per day of your water footprint (or 14% of your indoor use) is lost to leaks.How can you conform to the standards and help increase energy efficiency in your home? At Home 1994 was the year that federally mandated low-flow showerheads, faucets, and toilets started to appear on the scene in significant numbers.
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