When it comes to saving water, even the smallest changes can make a big difference. It’s even better when one easy action can save you some elbow grease and your hard-earned dollars at the same time.
A recent post from Sustainable Nations makes this point in its title: “Save Money By NOT Cleaning Your Old Shower Head.”
How is that possible? As the post notes, older shower heads release up to 3.5 GPM (Gallons Per Minute), but many new low-flow models come in the 1 to 1.5 GPM range, yet have a negligible difference in water pressure (because no one wants a wimpy shower). Basically, instead of spending $10 for chemically-laden cleaning products such as CLR to remove the grit and grime from your current shower head, you can spend the same amount of money (or even less) and replace it with a new low-flow shower head. This change not only slashes your water bill but also saves precious H2O, too.
DON’T MISS: If Your Community is Parched, Here’s How You Can Help Conserve Water
If you’re interested in making the switch, New York Times writer Stephen Treffinger reviewed 17 different low-flow shower heads of varying models that deliver an “acceptably robust shower” (prices range from $10 to $194).
Treffinger notes that the swap can make a massive difference in your water footprint: “If you typically take a 10-minute shower every day, a reduction of a half gallon per minute will save over 1,800 gallons of water a year.”
Sounds like a planet-friendly solution that’s green and (literally) clean.
(H/T: Reddit)
Tag: water bills
Why a New Start-Up Is Paying Customers to Save Water
Do you delay opening your utility bills, dreading the monthly expenses? Are you baffled by exactly what all those gallons, kilowatt-hours or cubic feet actually mean?
A start-up called MeterHero wants to simplify all those numbers and encourage you to save by comparing your water, gas and electricity consumption against your neighbors, and then offering rebates to those who conserve more. Earlier this month, the company started returning $1 for every 100 gallons of water a customer saves below their two-year average, TakePart reports.
Although MeterHero’s new refunds may seem small at first glance, the Environmental Protection Agency says the average American family of four guzzles through 400 gallons of water every day. So cutting 40 minutes from your household’s daily shower time or doing larger (yet fewer) loads of laundry means an extra dollar in your bank account. And with 29 percent of the continental U.S. facing drought conditions, it also means huge benefits for the environment.
The idea for the company was sparked at Marquette University in Wisconsin when two dozen students brainstormed how to motivate people to save water. Testing a form of peer pressure, they developed an online platform to compare utility bills. Heavy users would be urged to reduce waste through “the force of friendly competition,” Nathan Conroy, a graduate student involved with the project, tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“As humans, how we compare to others informs our behavior,” Conroy says. “We don’t need everyone to become prophets of water scarcity; we just want people to be empowered to understand their water use and take action that works for them.”
McGee Young, a professor at Marquette, founded MeterHero this year after seeing huge demand for his former students’ work. He said the website is groundbreaking because utilities rarely offer incentives for water conservation since “their revenues depend on using water.”
One thousand users in the U.S. and Canada have registered so far. Anyone with a meter, old utility bills or willing landlord can sign up. MeterHero’s next challenge will be obtaining $100,000 in commitments by early next year — enough to fund rebates for 10 million gallons of water saved. They also have plans to launch a mobile app soon, GreenBiz reports.
“There’s going to be no greater public policy challenge we’ll face in our lifetime than managing increasingly scarce resources in a growing population,” Young says. “That’s why we’re doing this. We have no alternative but to think creatively and outside the box on how to manage our water supplies.”
Source: TakePart
5 Cities That Are Using Water Bills to Identify People in Need
Earlier this year, Detroit ignited controversy when the city government shut off water service to more than 4,000 residences who were late on utility bills. While the crackdown sparked negative press, a pilot program is using the same concept to help low-income residents in financial distress in five cities across the country.
The National League of Cities (NLC) is rethinking the way in which we identify people needing support by using late bills as a signal of distress through a two-year project known as LIFT-UP.
The cities of Houston, Savannah, Ga; Louisville, Ky.; St. Petersburg, Fla. and Newark, N.J. have partnered with NLC to launch an initiative that uses utility bills to help residents with financial and economic stability, according to Governing. While each city’s pilot program is different, all five underscore the idea of supporting residents with outstanding bills in low-income communities.
Outstanding public utility bills are common in most large urban sprawls. In Detroit, half of its customers were past due this year with owing up to $90 million. Some argue that many customers have the money to pay but choose not to.
“I think it’s been common knowledge that the water bill has been placed on the back burner [by some customers], in part because we haven’t been aggressive enough,” said Gregory Eno, a spokesman for the Detroit Department of Water and Sewerage. He points out that after the city shut down services to 4,531 customers in May, 84 percent paid the bills to regain service within 48 hours.
But others contend that while people may prioritize paying off other bills before utility costs, cracking down could make the situation worse. Which is why LIFT-UP is using the process to educate truant customers.
Savannah, which launched a pilot last August, has signed up at least 50 residents allowing them to pay smaller amounts as well as extend the repayment time frame. To apply, residents must have had their water cut off at least once in the past two years, owing an amount ranging from $150 to $500. Customers can pay 25 percent of their bill rather than 50 percent of what’s owed.
Part of the southern city’s initiative, which is run by nonprofit Step-Up Savannah, also entails a one-on-one financial counseling session with a nonprofit provider to help residents budget for bills as well as help them find out if they’re eligible for public aid. After completion, participants receive a $50 credit to their next water bill, which is provided by private foundations partnering with the program. Savannah has seen 13 customers complete the program since its inception.
Detroit is also getting on board with reframing the conversation. The city has planned a financial assistance program through a $1.1 million fund — paid for by voluntary 50-cent donations from water — which will help match monthly payments from low-income customers who have had water services shut off or are at risk.