Water Conservation Competition

Why Is Water Conservation Important?  With growing population rates and only 3% all the water on Earth fit for consumption, it is crucial that we conserve water.  Experts weighing in at World Water Week in Stockholm estimate that half of the irrigation water used around the world is lost to wasted food-the equivalent every year to half of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, or 365 trillion gallons (1,380 cubic kilometers).  In the U.S. alone, we throw away or waste about 30% of our food or about 11 trillion gallons of irrigation water.  Conserving water also prevents greenhouse gas emissions associated with treating and distributing water. If all Americans cut down their shower time to 5 mins, we would save enough water to fill 1.9 million Olympic swimming pools each year.

What We’re Doing About this at Cal State East Bay

SustainEastBay and Student Housing & Residence Hall have partnered together to host a water conservation competition for the residence halls, to educate students how to conserve water. The goal of this competition is to motivate people and to foster a community that recognizes the economic, environmental, and social importance of conserving water. We hope to instill a sense of awareness among students, so they can make conscious decisions to reduce their water-waste footprint. 

The competition will run through the Fall semester:

The residence hall that has the lowest percentage of water use per resident will win prizes for the entire hall and major bragging rights! Residents can also post a picture of their shower timer or playlist on social media and tag @SustainEastBay to win a grand prize. 

What can you do to conserve water?

Reduce food waste by: 

• Buying only what you need. 
• Composting your food waste. 
• Buying food from local sources. 
• Getting creative with your leftovers and turning them into new recipes. 
• Calculating your water footprint and learning more about how to save water at www.watercalculator.org 

• Take 5-minute showers.
• Turn off the faucet while not in use.
• Wash dishes and laundry in full load only.
• Report water leaks immediately.
• Carry a refillable water bottle.

For more tips and tools to help conserve water, please visit @SustainEastBay on Instagram. To get involved with future Cal State East Bay sustainability efforts, contact sustainability@csueastbay.edu.