Created
1.11.2021
Author
Siru Myllymäki
Photos
SATO
We use water in so many ways: for showering, cooking, cleaning, laundry, washing dishes, and flushing the toilet. Every litre of water is consuming nature and your wallet. For example, the water footprint of a Finn in 2019 was almost 4 000 litres (HSY 2019).
Water - especially warm water - should be used moderately. To begin your water-saving journey, take a closer look at the way you use water daily. Here we have some water-saving tips for you.
Shower is the water consumption monster of Finnish homes. Merely a minute in the shower uses up to 15 litres of water from which 60 percent is heated. Please, turn the water off when you apply shampoo or soap, and try to shower in less time.
Don’t forget to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, applying soap or shaving your beard.
An extra tip for the thirsty ones: You can skip running the water to get it cooler by thinking ahead and cooling the water in the fridge in a bottle or a pitcher.
While in sauna you might unwittingly use more water than necessary. It’s nice to shower before the first ´löyly´ and wash yourself after the last one, but in between the best way to cool down is to take a breather in the dressing room or on the balcony/terrace instead of showering.
Don’t throw away the water after boiling potatoes or eggs. You can use it for watering the plants after it’s cooled down.
Wash vegetables and fruits in a bowl, and you can use that leftover water for your greeneries, too!
If you have a dishwasher, please use it. The dishwasher is great for saving water because it uses just the amount of water it needs. Take notice that newer appliances will be more energy efficient and will use less water than the older appliances.
Aim to wash only full drums of clothing. A newer washing machine already uses less water, and it often has energy saving programs which allow you to save even more water.
If your home building has a shared laundry room, use it especially for larger amounts of clothes or linen. The bigger machines are more efficient both in their time and water usage.
Did you know that even a small leak in the toilet can amount to litres of water? If you notice a leaky water fixture in your SATOhome, please inform us via OmaSATO.
The original article was published in 21.3.2018.