Water (ab)use

by azrainman
Can You Get by on Just 5 Gallons of Water a Day?:
[Via AlterNet.org: Coverage Areas]

A British woman attempts for a day what most in the developing world deal with all the time — living on just over 5 gallons of water.

And what does her in is having to flush a toilet. As mentioned in the article, it was pubic sanitation of water in the 1800’s that not only prevented major disease outbreak, it also allowed us to use/misuse large amounts of water. Waste disposal, such a major portion of public sanitation, uses a lot of water.

Since we are not going back to the old ways anytime soon, simply using some common sense may help. Don’t run the water if you do not need to. Take quick showers using water restrictor showerheads instead of a bath. Use instant hot faucets instead of wasting water waiting for the water to heat up.

If you must rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, fill up the sink or use a tub. And make sure your toilet is in proper working order, without leaks.

Finally, ‘Let it mellow if its yellow. Flush it down if its brown’. Add a little lysol to the bowl to help disinfect. as the article makes amply clear, unnecessary flushes use a lot of water unnecessarily.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Health, Sustainability

Fixing new math

by SantaRosa OLD SKOOL
Keeping math abstract may make it clearer:
[Via Buzzworthy]

All those story problems and “real-world” examples of applied math may actually make it harder for kids to grasp abstract concepts, suggests a study out of Ohio State University.
[More]

Now they tell us. I have hated watching my son have to deal with lousy word problems when he was able to easily solve ones based on abstract math. I worked with him a lot but always felt it was a bad way to teach math. Looks like I was right.

Technorati Tags: Education, Science