Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Save water? Yes. Handwash clothes? No
Man spends whole month living on 25 litres a day
Kevin Freedman, with partner Ratna Nigrum, spent a whole month living on 25 litres a day. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
AFTER a month of living on 25 litres of H20 daily, Kevin Freedman said saving water is still a priority. But handwashing all of his clothing? Not so much.
Freedman spent the month of June limiting his daily water use to 25 litres. That included a few litres for drinking and the rest for washing, cooking and other necessities.
The experiment meant giving up the shower in favour of a bucket of water, flushing the toilet less often, and washing clothes with carefully doled out portions of hot and cold water.
"It's hard physical work as well to scrub all the clothes," he said.
"It could take, between rinsing and washing and wringing and all that, probably about a three-hour process, if not more."
Freedman said he hoped to get people thinking about the amount of water they use daily, and raise awareness of the need for water conservation globally. The 28-year-old's 25-litre limit is a drop in the bucket compared to the national average of 350 litres per person, according to Environment Canada.
A top-loading washing machine can use up to 140 litres per wash, and Freedman said even low-flow showers can use five to six litres per minute.
He said most of the changes were easy after the first week, like reusing grey water left over from laundry washing to flush the toilet.
Freedman estimates he'll have raised about $1,000 for UNICEF after he tallies his donations.
He said he'll keep up some of his conservation habits, like using a plastic container full of water to rinse his shaving razor instead of turning on the tap. He said he also plans to keep reusing grey water wherever possible, including keeping a pail in the shower to collect water that would otherwise run down the drain.
Freedman said the response from people who learned about his experiment during the month was "almost 100 per cent positive."
"The most common question I had was, 'Do you stink yet?'" he laughed.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 2, 2009 B5
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