By Courtney Bowler

I know in this big world it is easy to feel like anything I, one person among billions, can’t possible make any kind of difference. But it is important to remember that people inspire others to make changes, it is the ripple effect in making a change for the better. For instance, it seems easier to buy a plastic bottle of water when you’re thirsty rather than search for a water fountain or carry around a reusable water bottle to fill.

Just for perspective, to produce a 20-ounce bottle of water requires 18 gallons of water. It takes 18 gallons of water to create 20 ounces of drinkable bottled water. Ask yourself where that trade off might be? Likely you would say a buck or two. The reality is that people, likely living in a landscape where drought is common are having their drinking water being used up to produce that plastic bottle that contains refreshingly crisp tap water. That’s right. Tap water.

I don’t want to preach to the choir on the water topic. Water is similar to oil though. Oil will run out one day, water may have the same fate if we don’t begin to make the difficult decisions to use water wisely.

There are so many thing I could recommend to do that would not only save yourself a penny or two, but if every household made an effort that would create a larger effort on the whole. Turn off the lights when you leave the room, shut off the faucet when brushing your teeth, unplug appliances you’re not using, use a reusable container for food and drinks rather than plastic baggies and plastic throw away cups, avoid using drink straws, order ice cream on a cone rather a Styrofoam bowl, walk down the street to run a quick errand rather than driving the car for two minutes; the list goes on and on.