OK, I had one more random thought, but decided to sort of ask it as a quick “Question of the Day”.
I was reading some stuff in the newspaper over the weekend about Earth Day. Now, if you know me in real life, you know that I’m by no means a “tree hugger”, but I do believe in recycling, trying to save energy, taking care of the environment, etc. My sister Gail has already blogged about the CFL light bulbs. I’ve been trying to do that for a while, and we recycle every week (we have curbside where I live, so it makes it easier). And on and on, there’s lots of things you can do to save energy and take care of the planet.
Here’s one thing I read though, that I’m terrible at. The article in the paper talked about not running the water while you’re brushing your teeth. Seems most people do, me included, and if we’d all just shut off the water, we’d save water and energy. I just did a quick Google and found this:
If everyone in your family leaves the water on while brushing their teeth, as much as 600 gallons can be wasted each month (assuming a household of 4 people, brushing twice a day for 1 full minute and a faucet running at 2.5 gpm).
So, that’s today’s burning “Question of the Day“: Do you turn the water off when you brush your teeth, or leave it running? Have you ever thought about it? Do you care? 🙂 And a bonus question, do you brush your teeth for a long time? They say you should sing Happy Birthday all the way through, 4 times, to brush your teeth correctly. Sheesh, I’m probably lucky if I get through 2 verses of Happy Birthday! Leave me a comment and let me know about these 🙂
I ALWAYS turn the water off when I brush my teeth–I have a pet peeve about water wasting. I get so ill at my husband because he turns on the water as soon as he goes in the bathroom in the morning and leaves it on the whole time he is getting ready–he says he’s just waiting for it to get hot!
I forgot to add that you would probably really enjoy Farkle–and Phase 10 is the game I play with my sisters when we get together–we love it. Break those cards out and get to playing, girl!!!
I don’t usually leave the water running when I’m brushing my teeth. Living overseas we had to be careful on water consumption. So maybe it’s just a continuation of that. We had times where we didn’t have running water when I was overseas. Sponge baths it was! But also the water wasn’t necessarily safe to drink and we wouldn’t use water out of the faucet to brush our teeth. We’d use boiled water. Hmm, this question has sent me down memory lane! LOL!
Not only do I leave the water running when I brush my teeth, being that the sound of running water soothes Goober and stops his crying, we let the water run for about 30 minutes straight the other day while he laid on the bathroom vanity. Some things are just more important than water conservation, like keeping a baby from screaming his head off. 😉
And I’m sure I don’t brush my teeth nearly long enough. We won’t even talk about flossing. 🙁 My question is, how are you supposed to sing “Happy Birthday” with toothpaste and a toothbrush in your mouth? ;-D
Yes, I leave the water running when I brush my teeth. I don’t plan on stopping either. It’s just how I do things, LOL. As far as how long I brush, the minimum is 1 minute. I don’t time myself but think I come close.
I’m bad and leave the water running! I know it should be off and I try but it doesn’t feel right when I brush that way, gotta give it time I suppose.
If I use my rota-dent electric toothbrush I got from dentist for my gums then I brush longer than with a regular brush…that might have been more than you wanted to know!
I do turn the water off while I brush my teeth. I am pretty concerned about conservation and being a good steward of God’s creation, although I’m no tree hugger, either.
It is a habit that I worked to form when I was a teenager. That being said, I know there is more that I could do.
We all keep the water running 🙁 OH THE SHAME! I think that is something that we will change!
We did switch to CFL’s a few months ago and have noticed quite a difference in our electric bill! Nice.
I’m trying to be more “GREEN”, but it’s a slow process. I’m wasteful, I’ll admit it. But I want to do better! I do! I really, really do! 😀
Sherry
I tend to leave the water running, although I try not to. It’s a bad habit, and I don’t even know how I picked it up, because growing up in the desert you are taught every single possible way to conserve water.
I think about this all the time, tree hugger that I am !!
I don’t like to do it however, because I like to keep dipping my toothbrush under the water as I change sides. And like Gail, if I used my SonicCare toothbrush, it automatically beeps every 30 seconds to change sides and it would mean I would brush the entire 2 mintues. But that’s another story….I love Earth Day!
Our village is selling trees and shrubs for good prices, but I don’t want to buy any more.
When I use a regular toothbrush, I leave the water running and probably don’t brush long enough. I like to be able to rinse the toothbrush off a couple of times during brushing. But when I use the Sonic Care, I turn the water off because I know that during the brushing time (2 minutes), it won’t be out of my mouth and doesn’t need to be rinsed off.
I tried those curly lightbulbs but didn’t like the light from them. We use the Reveal (blue) bulbs everywhere.
I always turn the water off while I’m brushing…it’s been a habit since I was young. And on top of that, it saves some on our bills! ;P
I do turn the water off when brushing. I always think I’m wasting if I don’t. I’ve never tried the Happy Birthday 4 times thing though. I’m sure I don’t even come close! Oh well!
I do turn the water off while I brush, but I have never tried to sing “Happy Birthday” while doing it; I would worry about all the toothpaste-laden spit all over the bathroom if I sang while brushing!
I agree with JennaG on water-wasting…huge pet peeve here. It drives my husband nuts that I remind him so often. You’d think after 12 years of marriage, he’d just turn the stinkin’ water off.
🙂
Have a great week!
usually turn it off. If my brain is awake that is what I do, just run it when I spit. Their are times when I am a sleep walking zombie and revert back to my 80’s kid of excess mode.
Definitely turn off the water. Have the kids trained to do so as well. We try to be careful about conservation. Of course, we’re not perfect…the kids love nothing more than playing in the sprinkler during the summer!
I don’t turn off the water; it’s actually some sort of comfort thing for me (I know, coocoo!). My dad used to fuss at me to turn it off (he was concerned about money, not wasting water per se), and I tried so hard to do it, but I just couldn’t make it through an entire teeth-brushing without my comforting stream of water!
However, I’m not concerned about “wasting” water, because we pay for it, not anyone else. I don’t buy into all the propaganda from environmentalists. It’s none of their business how much water or power I use, because those are resources that we alone pay every month. The more they blah blah about their socialist ideas, the more I want to leave my water running and every light on in my house! You’re probably sorry I answered this one! 😀
I brush until I feel like I’ve covered every tooth, which is probably nowhere near the time they say you’re supposed to.
Funny! I am a great recycler and I try to remember to shut the water off while brushing. I don’t always though. I have well water. Don’t know if that makes a difference to the water supply though! LOL
And I don’t sing HB three times! I’ll have to remember that one because I know I don’t brush long enough!
Great QOTD! I try to remember to turn off the water when brushing. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Oddly enough, I used to brush my teeth while in the shower. It was a great time saver, but not very conserving. I don’t sing HB, but I do try to brush for as long as a song is on the radio.
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