A single bucket of water in one day?  Even preparing to spend a single day with such a small ration of water has been humbling.

After watching the following Day Without Water video, I began to notice how very easy it is to consume water without really thinking about it. So today, on World Water Day, I’ll be officially accepting the #onebucketchallenge.

I’ve already made shifts in my relationship with water after years with The Waterbearers, so one day/one bucket doesn’t seem that difficult for me.

I’ll skip the shower, laundry, dishwasher and wait to flush until I really need to. I’ve already given my plants their weekly drink of H2O. I’ll put a pan in the sink for rinsing dishes. I won’t boil anything (rarely do anyway).

Simply said, I’ll use most of the water for drinking.

But I’ll know, with every water-saving act, that I’ll likely waste more water tomorrow, because habits are not so simple to break. It takes energy to change, and I’ve learned to live a very comfortable life with the appearance of no water shortage.  

Even after years of being grateful for the water I consume while women & children in other countries have to work extremely hard just to have clean water, I don’t always notice:

...how many times I flush the toilet without really thinking about it;
…how much water flows down the drain as I rinse my dishes;
…how often I sip water without noticing how it tastes;
…all the water-consuming-conveniences I forget to be grateful for: my washing machine, the hose attached to our house, our sprinkler system, the automatic car wash that keeps my car clean.

After being startled by the numbers given in the video, I am resolving to be much more attentive to the amounts of water I use…and vowing to be even more grateful for every drop.

I’m also asking questions that will hopefully start changing our habits while creating even more awareness around water conservation, because I know we’re all going to need it sooner than we think.

Is it time to invest in a low pressure toilet system?
Might we use our dishes a few more times before washing them?
How can we collect the water when rinsing our dishes & showering to later water the plants?
Do I really need another hot bath, or can I warm my body with an extra workout instead?
How might we zero-scape more of our yard to eliminate this water-sucking grass?

How many gallons of water might we save if we ALL start paying attention to how much we’re actually using?

As with most challenges, this one was designed to create awareness around something that many take for granted. Most of us will never have to exist on a bucket a day for any lasting time. At least for now.

But we can help the areas of the world that are not so fortunate. We can raise funds for bore holes & inexpensive filters that will provide clean, accessible water solutions.

We can start practicing needing less, while continuing to help those with less, have enough.

Click here to learn how you can help…