In this blog I will occasionally note a
small thing that you can do to make a change in your life that will,
when combined with millions of others doing the same thing, make a
significant difference in how humanity impacts the world.
The small thing I would like to suggest
here is: wash your hands in cold water. I know it is counter to what
most people would consider proper, but it is a good, easy to take,
step on the path of decreasing your personal footprint. Hot water
cools in the pipes between the hot water heater and the faucet. Even
with well insulated pipes, the water cools significantly in a short
period of time when just sitting in the pipes. In order to wash your hands in hot water, you turn
on the hot water and wait, as the water flows, for the hot water to
arrive. During that time, there is a waste of both water and the
energy expended to heat some or that water in the first place that was then lost as the previous session's water sat in the pipes. Hand washing does not take a large amount of
water (you should have the water flowing just enough to wet and rinse
your hands) so the water and energy wasted waiting for the hot water
is a substantial percentage of total used for the whole procedure.
Now if you multiply this by the number of times a day you wash your
hands, it adds up. Now multiply that by our entire population and
you really have a significant impact on water and energy consumption.
I started washing my hands in cold
water a while ago. At first it was a bit unpleasant, since I was
accustomed to hot water washing, but now it seems normal. By using
cold water, I begin washing immediately, saving water, and use no
energy heating the water, saving all
of that energy. There are of course conditions that would benefit
from a hot water wash, and at those times do it and with no regrets.
But for those times when you simply need to wash your hands, a cold
water wash with non-anti-bacterial soap is more than sufficient for
routine hand hygiene.
Help save the planet. Wash your hands
in cold water.
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