WATER
There’s a lady in my office who likes to brush her teeth. She brushes them every single time she eats, even if it’s just after a coffee break. She’s meticulous in her brushing and usually does so for a minimum of two minutes. She also likes to leave the faucet running at full blast when she does so.
When leaving the tap running, you’re wasting an average of five litres of water per minute. For this particular lady, that equates to 10 litres of water completely wasted every time she brushes her teeth.
Recently I made mention to her that if she were to turn the tap off while brushing her teeth, she’d save a lot of water so maybe it’d be a good idea to do so. Her response?
A slight laugh followed by a shoulder shrug and “Oh well…it’s the way I do it. It’s part of my routine.”
It’s now to the point that I can’t even be in the washroom while she’s engaging in routine because this just absolutely seethes me! Am I overreacting or is she simply ignorant?
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14 Comments
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That is irresponsible on her part, but I am somewhat not surprised. In general, Canadians (and British Columbians particularly) seem to think that water is a resource that is plentiful in this country. That’s not the case (as last year’s scorching summer in Tofino has demonstrated). But the problem is that since our drinking water comes from watersheds and there’s so much rain, the belief that there’s no need to conserve water seems to be quite widespread. If Vancouver was like Tofino (dependent on groundwater) then it would probably be different.
Annoying, yes. How to solve it? No idea.
I’d probably post a “Please turn off the tap while brushing your teeth” sign
Ha - I was thinking about doing that very thing!
So ignorant. You should totally post a sign.
she’s just an ignorant wet coaster, there are many of them among us (i’d even wager to say the majority).
it’s weird because it definitely falls back on how we were raised, our parents (should) teach us how to brush at an early age and from then on the whole routine is programmed into our brains as a thoughtless process.
i used to have a hard time brushing when the water wasn’t running directly down the drain but i’ve since made a conscious effort to be more smart about it.
unfortunately we’re rarely faced with water shortages so the idea of wasting water is pretty foreign.
Oooh is she on your facebook? Send her a free “green gift” which includes a ‘powersmart’ tip. …man I’ve spent too much time with Facebook developers lately….
Wow that IS ignorant!
remember this post check out the dude in the comments… it is TOTAL ignorance. props to you for staying on it!!!!!
Tell her that it’ll be “fun” in 20 years when she tells her grandkids that her “routine” is part of the reason they’re limited to using a liter of water a day.
Seriously though - the note isn’t a bad idea but depending on what type of company you work for, believe it or not, she might be able to complain that you’re harassing her.
You know that saying “ignorance is bliss”? I don’t know, but she seems pretty happy to me. Maybe too happy.
Sweet Mother of God!
I just read what the jerk on Corinna’s blog wrote and I can’t believe the degree of stupidity! That Sigivald dude(dudette) is totally an idiot. Should he require someone to educate him on environmental issues, Corinna, you can send him my way
if he ever re-appears in your blog 
I say you dip the toothbrush in the toilet when she’s not looking, and then giggle your ass off every time she goes to brush her teeth.
That would be funnier if my own brother hadn’t repeatedly done that to me when I was a young lass.
I have a similar issue with an OCD’er in my office….they insist on using half a roll of paper towel or toilet paper to navigate around the washroom without touching anything directly. They also usually just dump the paper products in the corners of the stalls or behind the door knowing the janitor will clean it up after them.
Need to think of a clever sign to post…
Environmental conservation may be your passion, but quite obviously it doesn’t seem to be hers. You could preach environmental awareness to her all day but my guess is that she would pretty much stop listening at the first sentence. People have a habit of doing that — I think they call it “social distortion.”
Maybe you could try your approach from another angle? For example, how much money she could save.
Just a thought.