Since my last calculation, that same tap has upscaled it's waste mega-fold. I believe it was previously dripping at approximately 14cups/hour. Two days ago I measured it to be dripping an astonishing 22cups/hour or 12045gallons/year! The other tap in our kitchen is at a constant 3cups/hour and 1642.5gallons/year.
There's a tiny patch of trees that rest between the Island Hwy and Metral Drive in North Nanaimo. This is an area I pass several times a day on my way home. I've seen people from the neighbouring houses use it as a dumping zone for yard waste. McDonald's and Tim Horton's litter the outer-skirts and there's a wide trail that winds through it.
This change is in addition to my change "Help Plant 1000 Trees". I figure that in order to assure the health of the forest I want to plant, I need to help maintain the health of current local forest patches. My mission is to set out and pick up litter in the little neglected patches of forests that run through Nanaimo, areas that are littered by neighbours and nightly teenage strolls.
My first attempt to poster the town was disappointing. It rained and all my outdoor posters basically melted. Fortunately, I was able to find several shops that provide public notice boards.
Making sandwiches all day seems like a peaceful enough job. In the background I can hear many different hums and beeps: the radio, chopping, boiling, refrigeration, customers and so on. None of this bothers me in the slightest. There is one sound that stands out above all else: the ceaseless drip of our kitchen faucets.
Out of curiosity and frustration, I put a large measuring cup under the drip and left it for a half-hour. Then, with much multiplying and division, I came out with this: 7117.5 gallons of water are wasted from that one tap each year. This needs to stop, and I'm going to do it.
When is recycling going to be mandatory outside the family home?
I've decided to sort the mounds of recycling I've been saving from work. A chance at a closer look at what is pouring into our landfills out of local businesses. Here is a tally of my last two weeks.
Newspapers: 20
Plastic Bags: 171
Coffee Lids and Sleeves: 39
Take-Out Food Containers: 44
Tin Cans: 8
Milk Jugs: 39
In a recent e-mail received, after signing a new contract with Telus Mobility, was a promotion for recycling unused and broken cellphones and accessories. For every one returned to Telus, the company plants a tree. The best part is, the phones could have been purchased anywhere - they don't have to be Telus phones!