Did you know that to grow $1 worth of rice in Australia needs over 1700 litres of water?

That is a lot of water for a small amount of food. I’m not sure how much water it takes in other countries but it is less than Australia because they grow rice in wet areas – we grow it closer to the desert than the coast. 

Maybe some scientists could find a way to grow rice with less water? Or maybe we need to find better places to grow it?

I wonder if brown rice is better because it uses less water in processing?

Posted: February 22nd, 2008 under general, junior water, saving water.
Comments: none

A study done in 2007 shows just how important it is for each of us to ‘do the right thing’, and how little actions (or lack of action in this case) really do add up.

Let’s be honest, how many times have you forgotten to turn off your computer before you leave work or go to bed? Doesn’t seem like a big deal does it?

In corporate USA, about 30% of computers are not turned off and this is costing about $1.72 billion US a year, and wasting 14.4 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) every year.

In the UK, about 18% of work computers are never turned off and another 17% are only sometimes turned off at night and for weekends. Wasting another 700,000 tonnes of CO2 and 1.5 billion kilowatt hours, at a cost of £115 million.

Add in the energy required when those computers are in use plus the computers used in homes, and there is a lot of energy being used for computers.

So you can make a difference to our energy consumption by turning off your computer every time you are away from it fora more than an hour or two. And turn off your monitor (screen) off whenever you are not using it.

It is also good for your computer (so it will work efficiently and need replacing less often) to be shut down regularly to cool down and carry out various processes.

Posted: February 20th, 2008 under general.
Comments: 4

The order of water use, from biggest use to smallest, in Australia is:

agriculture
household
services
manufacturing
mining

Surprised? Don’t forget that agriculture incldues crops, livestock, tree farms and flowers.

As for how much, well out of 10 litres of water used in Australia, 7 litres are used by agriculture! That doesn’t leave much for the other users!

The break up is about

agriculture – 7 liters
household – 1.2 litre
services – 1.1 litre
manufacturing – .3 litres
mining – .3 litres

I wonder how we can cut back agriculture’s water use?

Posted: February 16th, 2008 under general, junior water.
Comments: none

In garden class this week, we looked at who uses the most water in Australia. It was really interesting – and surprising, too.

If all of Australia used 10 litres of water in a year, how much would the following groups use?

manufacturing
households
agriculture
mining
services (electricity, gas, hospitals, fire fighters, sewrage, etc)

We had a 10 litre watering can and had to separate it into 2 litres bottles for each of the groups. I don’t think anybody got the order completely right, and none of us would have guessed the amounts.

Have a guess and I’ll give you teh answer tomorrow…

Posted: February 15th, 2008 under general, junior water.
Comments: none

The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.

Robert Fugram

  Do you agree with him?

It’s certainly true for gardening – instead of watching your neighbours’ green gardens, care for your own and it will be a green haven for you. Conserve your water, plan your garden carefully, and it will stay green despite the weather.

Posted: February 1st, 2008 under general, nature's gift.
Comments: none