Hot water usage rate per day is very high and expensive. This is attributed to a lot of power that is consumed when heating 41 gallons of water I use daily. Based on the results obtained, the most of water is used on showed and dishwashing. What drives me to use water is the desire to be clean and protect myself from microbes and diseases caused by these organisms.
Thus I can be classified as an above average water user. Much of the hot water is used when cleaning and washing, with the shower making up to 43% of the 41 gallons and washing clothes making up to 29%. It is important that I use less water on laundry and shower as it will be economically sustainable and will saves the environment and energy sources for future generations.
Households in many developed countries constitute approximately one third of the total water and energy consumption. Most people in these countries have washing machines and bathrooms that consume much water and energy. Much of the water usage is associated with cleanliness practices such as washing clothes and showers that are culturally or socio-technically dynamic. This practices lead to high energy and water consumption in many households that in turn affects the overall global climate. For years, utility companies and authorities have intensified campaigns in an attempt to conserve energy and water. Instead, there has been a rising trend in laundering and showering over the past few decades (Gram-Hanssen 20).
From the quantitative analysis carried out, teenagers have been found accountable for a significantly high consumption of household water and electricity compared to the adults. The standing rationale for their traditional routines is associated with the desire to avoid smelling and odor and transition from childhood to adults. In connection with cleaning activities, washing machines are run at least twice a day. This implies high energy consumption by the household laundry machines (Gram-Hanssen 19).
Parents have been found to control their children’s bathing and shower habits through the way they think and act until when they reach a school age. At teenage age, they become very concerned about their body cleanliness and take shower frequently disregarding their parents’ opinion. Young people lead lifestyles that associate them with a particular group of teenagers who have a specific standard of cleanliness. The female teenagers shower regularly and change clothes often to maintain a certain level of cleanliness.
There is a connection between economic, cultural and social status of families, thus there is difference in behavior between the higher and lower classes. For instance, poor families in the community learn to save the little water that they have by taking shorter showers that are not frequent.
Parents have high influence on the cleaning habits developed by their children, but as children grow up to the adolescent stage, these habits tend to change as people changed their environment and now their cleaning habits are influenced by school mates and friends. Basically, their cleaning habits are predominantly influenced by their social environment.
This is the period when the processes of self-expression and self-construction are underway and teenagers need regular confirmation of self – identity. This exerts peer pressure from friends and classmates to maintain cleanliness matters (Gram-Hanssen 21).
Many people are aware of the relations existing between water and energy consumption and the world environment and economy. There is no direct influence of environment or economy on cleanliness habits. Water and energy are the most utilized commodities by teenagers. This is attributed to the teenager’s transitional nature as they are transformed from children to adults. This can help in understanding the difficulty in changing cleanliness practices. Parents care about the environment, but they are afraid to table discussions touching on changing house hold habits that waste water and energy. They fear that this might trigger conflict with their teenagers, like telling them to take shorter showers or doing it less frequently (Gram-Hanssen 22).
As much as the research findings in Denmark are concerned, there is a relationship between standards of cleanliness, age and culture. Well, compare these results with the US results which are quite similar.
From the check sheet on domestic water use, it is evident that much of the water is used during taking shower. Hence, more energy is consumed on heating bathing water. The environmental implication of this practice is exhaustion of energy resources that are already strained. If the quantity of water used during showering and washing can be reduced, it would help to move towards sustainable development.
I can be willing to change my behavior and use lesser water while taking shower provided that my cleanliness standards are maintained at acceptable levels. This would reduce my electricity bills and save the world’s precious energy resources that continue to be used unsustainably.
Works Cited
Gram-Hanssen, Kirsten. “Teenage consumption of cleanliness: how to make it sustainable?” Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. 3.2 (2007): 15–23. Print.