What is your family doing to save China’s water?
The summer heat has got me thinking... about irrigation. My home country, Australia, is thirsty. Its edges are crusting up and curling. Residents have to report water usage to their local council, and there’s no car-washing, garden-watering or bathtub adventures happening anymore.

But what about China? With 20 percent of the world’s population and only seven percent of global water resources, China has got it tough. In February 2007, China’s Ministry of Water Resources released a five-year water-saving plan to counteract China’s severe decline in water resources.

Roughly 400 cities now experience water shortages and 110 face severe shortages. Yet here I am taking 20-minute showers and using the full-flush button on the toilet for wee-wee. Our plants are thriving-drowning even-and there are plenty of deep sea adventures in our overflowing bathtub, complete with super-soakers to saturate the shower curtain. Meanwhile, my Ayi splashes water like a shaggy dog on a hot day. Splash a little here, slop a little there, run the dishwasher with two plates inside and wash fruit with the tap merrily gushing-mei guan xi! Shame on us.

According to Xinhua News, Beijing’s annual demand for water is a gob-smacking four billion cubic meters. Seeing as though we seem to use half that amount in our apartment, I’ve had a long-overdue rethink: Things have changed. We are drying up. No more running taps or raging rapids down our indoor play slide. Washing machines and dishwashers are full, and our little vigilante egg timer has perched itself firmly in our shower-tick tock. And it seems to be working. My 7-year-old daughter is now reminding me to turn off the tap when brushing my teeth.

What is your family doing to save China’s water resources? If you’ve been as negligent as we have--drenching the neighbors and bathing Barbies--then shame on you, too. Educate yourself and get water-savvy at City Weekend’s Family Matters blog, or check out http://www.savewater.com.au.

Tanya McCartney