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Re: GBlist: What do Americans do with all that water?



Hello, All--

When we visited friends in England, I noticed that everything was smaller
than its American equivalent. Houses, windows, shower stalls, cars,
refrigerators, shops, grocery carts--everything seems about 3/4 scale,
compared to the US. I don't think you'd ever see an English family doing a
Costco run and hauling $500 worth of stuff on the handcart to load into
their sport-ute and get home to their two freezers in their 3,000 SF house
with 52" home video theater and 9-channel surround sound. English people
still buy pints of milk, wear the same shirt twice, wash instead of
showering and have to pay coins directly into their household electric
meter to keep the lights on. Maybe they are just more aware of costs and
consumption than we are?

Best, Mike

>That's a question that I get sooner or later from most
>colleagues/friends from the UK.  There are several reasons which you
>alluded to:
>
>1.  Europeans in general have long used horizontal axis washing
>machines, which use 20 -60% less water than the machines in common use
>in American homes.
>
>2.  Water closets have been no greater than 9 -12 litres/flush for quite
>a while from what I understand, compared to 16- 20 litres/flush in the
>US prior to 1982 or so and 13 litres from 1982 - 1994.
>
>3.  Although the UK is incorrectly assumed by many Americans to be
>rainy, there is a big hunk of the US which is really dry.  Outdoor water
>use in the southwest and southern CA is pretty high.
>
>What other characteristics would you point to?
>
>http://waterwiser.org
>
>--
>Warren C. Liebold
>
>wliebold@waonline.com
>wliebold@pppmail.nyser.net
>
>Director of Conservation
>New York City Department of Environmental Protection
>
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by CREST <www.crest.org>
>Environmental Building News <www.ebuild.com> and Oikos <www.oikos.com>
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>______________________________________________________________________


O'Brien & Associates
Environmental Building Consultants
Portland General Electric Earth Smart program
obrien@hevanet.com


______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by CREST <www.crest.org>
Environmental Building News <www.ebuild.com> and Oikos <www.oikos.com>
For  instructions send  e-mail to  greenbuilding-request@crest.org.
______________________________________________________________________


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