5x Saving on water

Water is not expensive in the Netherlands. But, if you want to contribute to sustainability and ultimately to a better world, saving on water is never a bad idea.

Just becoming aware of your water usage will help you a lot with saving on water. Unconsciously, lots of water disappears down the drain. Besides taking a shorter shower, there are a lot of other things you can do to save on water.

• Cooking
  Saving water while cooking? Yep, that’s easy. Are you waiting for hot water? Don’t let the water run right into the sink. Think ahead! You can already fill a pan with water, fill your kettle, or collect the water for watering your plants.
  
  Cook your vegetables and rice in a small layer of water. Leave the lid on the pan, and your vegetables will be fine. Even better is to steam your veggies. Especially with a ceramic plate, it can take some time until your water boils. Less water needs less time to boil, plus you'll preserve the flavor, vitamins, and minerals of your vegetables. With rice, put your finger vertically in the pan, touch the bottom, and pour in water up to only one fingertip above the surface of the rice. Leave the lid on the pan and wait until it's ready.
  
  Done cooking? Fill up your dishwasher sufficiently and run it on the eco-program. No full dishwasher? Then do the dishes by hand. This saves about 8 liters of water!
  
  
• Washing
  Luckily, nowadays all washing machines and dishwashers are energy-friendly. However, you can be extra careful while washing. A washing machine uses about 60 liters of water per wash. Does your washing machine have an eco function? Use it! The eco-program takes a little longer than other programs, but you wash more economically and just as clean.
  
  Also, make sure you fill your washing machine sufficiently. Saving up your dirty clothes and running a few large washes in the launderette is easier and more affordable than running several small washes.
  
  
• Showering
  A tip that you’ve probably heard many times before is to reduce your time in the shower. According to Milieucentraal, a household that showers for an average of 5 minutes instead of 9 minutes can save over 15,000 liters of water per year. Let’s not even talk about taking a bath. At the same time, you're saving energy as you don't heat up as much water.
  
  Also, although you might think that your shower needs 5 minutes to warm up, it will be hot in actually less than a minute. Don’t turn on the shower if you are doing other things in the meantime. Or start with a cold shower for a minute, which wakes you up immediately. Or, turn off the shower when washing your hair. Makes a difference!
  
  
• Reduce your food waste
  Although you would think that showering less would really contribute to sustainability, eating less meat is indirectly many times more effective. Did you know that everything you eat is made with the help of water? Don't be shocked, but 15,000 gallons of water are used for 1 pound of beef. So if you want to save water, it is wise to eat less meat.
  
  You can at least start by throwing away less food. Dutch people throw away more than 34 kilos of food every year, while you can still cook perfectly well with leftovers.
  
  
• Measuring equals knowing
  After all, measuring equals knowing. You can check your average water usage by looking at the annual settlement from your water provider. On average, a one-person household in the Netherlands uses 46,100 liters of water per year. That is more than 120 liters per day. Count that out in terms of bottles in front of you.
  
  You consume most water unconsciously. While you leave your water running for only two minutes while brushing your teeth, 40 liters of water rushes down the drain.

Is your shower, faucet, or tub dripping? Get it fixed! A leaking faucet increases your water consumption unnecessarily. Are you a tenant of Holland2Stay? Create a repair request in your online account. We'll fix it as soon as possible.