The president Of Namibia has declared a national drought emergency.
A statement from the presidency said: “the state of emergency exists on account of the natural disaster of drought in all regions of the Republic of Namibia.”
“Offices, Ministries and Agencies and all other stakeholders will be mobilized to ensure that the necessary assistance is rolled out to affected communities,” the statement added.
It is not only up to the Government and other agencies to pull us through this crisis. It is up to all of us. We are after all ‘The Republic’.
A little goes a long way. Your part, as little as it may seem, plays a big role in water saving and getting us out of the crisis.
Simple Tips on How To Save Water
Kitchen
Don’t let your faucet needlessly run while you’re cooking. You’re letting good water (as well as energy and money) run down the drain.
Wash vegetables and fruits in a large bowl or tub of water and scrub them with a vegetable brush instead of using your faucet as a power-washer.
Keep a bucket or pitcher in your kitchen to collect leftover drinking water, water used to rinse vegetables and to boil food. When it’s time to water your plants or garden, use this “recycled” water before you fill up your watering can from the tap.
Shower and Bathroom
Put a bucket in the shower while you’re waiting for the water to warm up, and use the water you catch for watering plants, flushing the toilet or cleaning.
Spend less time in the shower. If you lose track of time, bring a radio (tuned to 99FM of-course) into the bathroom and time yourself by how many songs play while you’re in there. Try to get your shower time down to a single song.
Turn off the water if you shave or brush your teeth in the shower to save time.
Laundry
Use your washing machine only when it’s full.
Wash your jeans less – washing them a lot will wear them out more quickly. Consider airing them out or even putting them in the freezer to freshen them up.
For that matter, wash all your clothes less. You don’t need to wash most of your clothes as often as you probably do.
Dry your clothes on a drying rack or a clothes line. When you save energy, you also save water because power plants use a lot of water to produce electricity.
Here are more ideas on how to better save water when it comes to laundry
Toilet
Put a plastic bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used per flush (if you can’t replace your higher volume toilet).
Practice “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” The saying may be cliché, but it’s good advice. If you’re grossed-out by the “yellow,” just put the toilet lid down or pour a little bleach to curb the smell.
Don’t flush things down the toilet to dispose of them. Throw tissues and other bathroom waste in the garbage can, which doesn’t require gallons of water.