Bruce Lee once said, “Be like Water”
Water is arguably our most important resource, so this week I’m talking about, water!
Whilst London swelters in 30+ degrees this week, Spain and Greece are flooded.
Even climate sceptics should acknowledge that extreme weather events are a sign. We’re in the midst of a short Indian summer in the UK, sweltering by day and meltingly uncomfortable at night time.
The last few years have seen extreme weather events become more and more commonplace. Earth’s lower atmosphere has become warmer and moister as a result of human caused greenhouse gas emissions, climate change has led to an increase in both rainfall and droughts.
It also got me thinking about water in general. I shouldn’t really have to explain the importance of water considering it is quite literally the difference between life and death for humankind and all other life including nature and agriculture.
So I’m not going to. Instead, let’s explore what we can do to be more responsible with our most valuable of resources.
Several of the UK’s water regions are now listed by the government as officially “water stressed” meaning that it’s inevitable there will be hosepipe bans and other measures in the future.
So what can we do, or infact what should we be doing?
When it rains, nature captures it as a resource and reuses it for the benefits of trees and plants. Pardon the pun, but we can take a leaf out of mother nature’s book and be a bit more resourceful with the most important of our resources.
It’s the perfect capture, collect and reuse system.
At Syntech HQ we identified very early in our journey that responsible water usage would be a key focus as part of our environmental and sustainability story. One of the first things we put in place was collecting all the rainwater from the roofs of all our buildings and then reusing it to blend in our waste water from our process to improve the ph. levels. Next came an organic water treatment plant which enables to reuse the water again and again reducing our dependence on the water system dramatically and responsibly.
In African and Middle Eastern countries water is definitely not taken for granted or wasted unnecessarily, so why do we in the UK? Yes, we can blame the water companies for not renewing Victorian pipe systems quicker but that doesn’t excuse us from the mix.
“What can we do?” I hear you cry my budding environmentalists!
There are tons of ways to reduce water use in households, hippo inserts or changing your flush mechanism are a great and easy way to start that can really make a difference. More showers instead of baths and all that sort of stuff, how many of you leave the tap running when you brush your teeth?
There are a number of things we use tap water for that rainwater can do. The most obvious, obviously, is water your gardens. Install water butts on your guttering downpipes, collect precious rainwater when it comes. Throw your washing up bowls and car washing buckets over the lawn or plants instead of reaching for the hosepipe.
In short, as I always say, do your bit, be resourceful with your resources. Play your part and you’d be surprised how much of a difference collective efforts and mindsets can make.
Story by Syntech Biofuel
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