I have a little brother who loves water, including but not limited to bathing in it, drinking it, swimming in it, and simply playing with it. It always breaks my heart when I tell him to shut off the water when he is playing with his plastic toys; He would never turn it off if I didn’t tell him to do so. Twenty people can fit in an American swimming pool. An airplane uses that same amount of water flying from Florida to New York, about 20,000 gallons. Most people use more water than they need without even thinking about it, which creates devastating effects on the Earth.

One excuse: “I am just too busy to fix that tap.” Did you know that at a rate of three seconds per drop, you will eventually waste about 584 gallons of water if you allow the leak? Another excuse: I’m just too lazy to turn off the sprinklers, even if it rains every day, and probably will keep on raining until autumn comes.  Do you know it takes about sixty gallons to water a lawn about the same size as a parking spot?

Since more than seventy percent of the earth is covered by water, some might wonder, Does it really matter if I just use a bit more? It certainly does. Using more water than you need will not only affect the money in your pocket but also the Earth’s bucket. A 2023 New York Times article, “The Salton Sea, and Accident of History, Faces a New Water Crises,” suggests that not long ago, California was facing some serious water issues. The article says the Colorado River has been in a drought since 2000, causing vast amounts of changes in the area. Agriculture, the animals, the weather, and even the Salton Sea next to it are all negatively affected. Farmers have been forced to cut their water use, which means they will provide fewer fruits and vegetables as well as make less profit, which will then cause more disadvantages in the community. Many fish species are also killed because of the drought. This drought did not appear because God was unhappy, but because of poorly engineered waterways, and the massive amount of water humans use daily. As Elena Shao, a New York Times reporter, noted, even historic amounts of rain in the past few months did not bring an end to California’s drought.

As people pursue a high-quality life, they inevitably require more from nature. Ms. Shield claims in a New York Times article, that “It’s like we’re between a rock and a hard place,” and this applies to the relationship between human development and usage of all natural resources. Because of human population growth, it is hard for us to maintain, let alone lower our water usage; however, we should be aware of how much we are using and try to reduce it. We can’t drink less water, but we should try to take shorter showers and turn off sprinklers in the rain--and fix those leaky taps. Please!