Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
He's not gonna waste one precious drop
Will limit water use to 25 litres per day
BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Kevin Freedman and partner Ratna Nigrum carry container that Freedman will use during 25-litre-per-day challenge. (BORIS MINKEVICH)
Water, water everywhere -- but for Kevin Freedman, there are just two or three litres to drink and 22 litres for the rest of his daily needs.The conservation-minded Winnipegger plans to cut his water use to just 25 litres per day this month.
That means parsing it out for drinking, washing, cooking and other necessities.
Freedman, 28, said he hopes to draw attention to the need for water conservation worldwide, and to get people thinking about how much H2O they use daily.
"We have a lot of water in Canada, but we don't have an unlimited amount of water," said Freedman, on staff at the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg who is earning a master's degree in non-profit management.
Twenty-five litres might not seem so frugal, but the average Canadian uses about 350 litres daily, according to Environment Canada.
Compare that to some developing countries, where usage can be just 10 to 20 litres daily.
An older toilet can use 20 litres of water in a single flush, he said.
He plans to flush less this month and pour water directly into the toilet for a forced flush that uses less water.
Handwashing clothes will be routine, since a top-loading washing machine can use 100 to 140 litres of water per wash.
Instead of showering, Freedman will wash using a cloth and bucket of water. Even low-flow shower heads use five to six litres of water per minute, he said, and older showers use more than double that.
Freedman said he's up for the challenge after living for a few years in a part of Indonesia where bathing with a cloth and bucket was the norm. His shower uses eight to 10 litres per minute and that means even a few minutes "would be all the water I'd have for the day," he said.
Freedman said he'll use a trio of refillable bottles to keep track of drinking water and will limit his use of dishes.
He has set up a Facebook group, titled Water as a Right Conservation Challenge, aimed at getting the word out. He plans to blog his progress at theweeklyregale.blogspot.com, and is collecting donations for UNICEF.
Raising awareness is more important than pledges, Freedman said, but he'd like the cash to go toward a school sanitation system worth $5,000.
lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 8, 2009 A2
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