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A good shower is important for many reasons.  Among the most obvious benefits are that showers help us avoid unwanted odors and provide a comfortable place to belt out our best Whitney or Josh Groban tune (is that just me?).  However, the most overlooked shower element is that they are one of the main fronts on which the water conservation battle is waged.

Of course more direct measures like water-saving shower heads can be put into place, but for our fourth suggestion in the series we’re recommending a simple step you can take to dramatically limit your daily water consumption – digital shower timers courtesy of BigGreenSmile.com. 

These little beauties are an easy way to keep track of the amount of time you spend in the shower. Shortening your shower by one or two minutes can save roughly 150 gallons a month.  That’s simple savings made even easier with the help of a digital shower timer.  

Soon enough your showers will be like an exciting race against time.  And who knows, maybe you’ll be the catalyst to introduce the shower sprint to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Effort around the holiday season is tough for some to muster.  Usually, the lack of effort is on the part of the giver.  We’ve all received a calendar that so astounds us by its lack of relevance that we’re certain the giver played “pin the tail (or in this case the $5) on the calendar.”  

However, for our third gift suggestion of the series, we’re throwing something out there that flips the effort issue on its head.  The 16-inch silk Cattelya Orchid is one of many silk plants offered by BudtoBlossoms.com, none of which require a drop of water or a single bit of effort on behalf of the gift recipient!  

So if the giver can muster enough effort to click their mouse a few times and the recipient can find a good location to place their new plant, then not only has everyone done something productive, but we’ve managed to conserve water along the way.

To purchase a silk orchid, or to choose from an array of other selections, visit budtoblossoms.com.

We all have that person in our lives so obsessed with cleanliness that before entering their home we need a full briefing on the do’s and don’ts of appropriate footwear and drink placement.  Likewise, we all know the person so comfortable with a life of squalor and filth they have built an immunity to the smells and secretions emanating from their domain. 

While these people may seem like complete opposites, they can both benefit from our next water saving holiday gift …

The ergonomic aluminum handle broom is the perfect gift for either of the people listed above.  Standing 24 inches tall, this broom is sturdy, easy to use, and a perfect way to sweep the sidewalks or garage and save all the water that might have otherwise been wasted with a hose.

As an added bonus, the ergonomic aluminum handle broom is sure to be a devastating gift for anyone age 12 and under, thus providing a priceless holiday picture moment.

Pick up your broom by visiting the Ability One Catalog here.

• Daily Water Tip: Choose shrubs and groundcovers instead of turf for hard-to-water areas such as steep slopes and isolated strips. #
• Researching 12-days-o-xmas water conservation products and found Brita. Great product, cool site, Bahumbug on SEO http://tinyurl.com/68osyk #
• Daily Water Tip: When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load. #
• Daily Water Tip: Use the garbage disposal sparingly. Compost vegetable food waste instead and save gallons every time. #
• Daily Water Tip: For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap #
• Daily Water Tip: Monitor your water bill for unusually high use. Your bill and water meter are tools that can help you discover leaks. #
• Daily Water Tip: Use a water-efficient showerhead. They’re inexpensive, easy to install, and can save you up to 750 gallons a month. #
• Were one away from 100 followers. Will it be you? #
• Congrats @gregmays for being our 100th follower. And an attaboy to @dougvs, you’re #1 in the next 100. Thanks for following! #
• Daily Water Tip: Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap. #

This post originally appeared on the green marketing blog at parkhowell.com

As Fast Company magazine put it, “This should go down in the annals of bad sustainability marketing.” Nestle Waters threatened to sue Miami-Dade County in Florida because the county aired a public service radio campaign that said their water was cheaper and safer than bottled water.  The magazine equated Nestle suing a public water department to a McDonald’s Play-Place suing the city parks department.  Insightful PR work like this can garner you all kinds of attention, including landing Nestle Waters CEO John Harris on a “Corporate Scrooges” list.

Read the entire story in the Miami Herald.

The holidays are in full swing and rapidly approaching as evidenced by the look of panic hanging over those still searching for the perfect gift.  We’re betting that if you’re like us, most of the gifts you’ve received through the years have either gone back to their place of origin or disappeared from memory faster than Dad’s receding hairline.

If you’re yet to find the perfect gift this year we thought we’d help by suggesting a few items that would be fun, practical and help you conserve water along the way.  Over the course of the next 12 days, the “Water – Use It Wisely 12 Days of Christmas” will outline a potential water saving gift to put on your list or pick up for someone special.  It would be easy to suggest obvious water saving devices like upgraded toilets, and while we love you if you’re going that route, we decided to focus our efforts on the less obvious.

So without further ado, our first gift of the “Water – Use It Wisely 12 Days of Christmas” is…

The Li’l Guppy Multi Tool

It might not look like much but this little beauty, designed by Columbia River Knife & Tool, is perfect for catching those minor repairs before they escalate into something more serious.  The Li’l Guppy can take that leak you see outdoors from prime water waste offender to a thing of the past with a few swivels of the steel blade, adjustable wrench, screwdriver or any of the other numerous functions.

Of course the best part of the Li’l Guppy is that it’s small enough to take anywhere you want, yet noticeable enough to frighten even the most flagrant of water wasters. And trust us, soon enough everyone in the neighborhood will be asking to see your Li’l Guppy (and who doesn’t want that?)

Pick up a Li’l Guppy here at ThinkGeek.com.   

Managing a scarce resource like water is serious business.  But come on, educating on how to use water wisely can and should be fun, especially if you want your message to resonate with kids.

Here are a few examples from the Water – Use It Wisely campaign, and other great programs around the world.  We invite you to play along and share these wonderful online games and activities freely.  And if you know of a fun, interactive way to learn about water, please send us a comment and link to this blog.

“Tip Tank” Water Conservation Concentration Game Can you match the water-saving devices before the water runs out on our happy little gold fish?  Try to beat all three levels.  Highly recommended by Fast Company magazine.

H20house Water Saver Home Tour the California Urban Water Conservation Council’s interactive H20House and see where you can save along the way.

Bert & Phil’s Water Busters Play along as Bert the Salmon helps Phil Dumpster save water in his home in this interactive game brought to you by Seattle Public Utilities.

Project WET’s Water Festival One of the country’s premier water education organizations, Project WET launched its new interactive water festival.  It’s tremendous fun as kids learn about the water cycle and conservation.  It takes the program a bit to load, but while you wait you can try to catch water drops in a bucket.  Frustratingly fun!

The Water Family Game Now let’s go overseas to the United Kingdom, where you get to build your own family and learn how to save water around the home.  This is kind of a goofy, but informative game with simple and colorful clip-art-like animation.

Finally, we’ll go down under to the remarkable Mission H20 game produce by the amazing students at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia.  The storytelling, animation, music, and Aussie wit is found throughout this terrific online conservation game.  You can even win an iPod nano if you “choose to accept the mission.”

Got a game?  Lets us know in the comment section below.

• Thinking about a fridge for xmas? Some are cooled with wasted flows of water. Upgrade to air cooled appliances for major water savings #
• Daily Water Tip: Install covers on pools and spas and check for leaks around your pumps. #
• Daily Water Tip: When washing dishes by hand, don’t let water run while rinsing. Fill a sink with wash water and the other with rinse water #
• Daily Water Tip: Take some time to check and adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, sidewalk, or street. #
• Xmas is coming early to Arizona. OK, well at least in January http://tinyurl.com/5zkcjd #
• Daily Water Tip: Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month. #

In a recent Los Angeles Times article, reporter Ann Simmons points to the fact that the water supply in Antelope Valley, California is set to be greatly reduced starting Dec. 7 for dramatic system upgrades. You can read Simmons full article here.

From Dec. 7 to Dec. 13 the 165,000 residents of Antelope Valley and its surrounding communities will have their water availability cut by 60 percent as the Quartz Hill Water Treatment Plant completely shuts down. As residents prepare for the water reduction, they’re being asked to adopt water conservation tactics to ease the burden on themselves and the community.  

This will certainly be a challenge for the residents of Antelope Valley and we want to be there to support them so why don’t we all challenge ourselves to reduce our water consumption starting Dec. 7? What we’ll all find, whether a resident of Antelope Valley or not, is that saving water is easy and before you know it, second nature. 

The real challenge for Antelope Valley residents will be maintaining their sudden water conservation effort. The plant upgrade is designed to increase production from 65 million gallons of water per day to 90 million gallons of water per day. That’s a big increase. Could you imagine the savings if the Antelope Valley residents, and all of us that saved along side them, stayed at the water levels that we adopted during the plant closure?  They savings would be gigantc!

So let’s make what started as a random water treatment plant upgrade, into a symbolic water conservation week. Click here for all of the tips you’ll need to conserve, or follow us on Twitter for daily tips. 

Also, as always, make sure to use our Facebook page as a place to update everyone on your results.

Say hello to our guest blogger, Jered Love, from our friends at WaterDrop

Turn the tap on and let it run for about a minute. Now turn it off. You’ve just used two gallons of water. That might not seem like a lot to you, but you’ve just used the total daily amount of water used by an African citizen in a developing country.

You might think “wait a minute, that’s what they use for just drinking right?” Wrong. That’s the amount of water they use in one day for everything from drinking to bathing. Let’s put it in perspective, go take a shower for five minutes using a standard showerhead, you just about 35 to 50 gallons. You just used the same amount of water that five people in a developing country in Africa consume in one day just to survive.
Saving water here in North America doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re giving water to people in Africa and you are probably thinking, “Why do I need to save water when it’s not an issue here?” We need to recognize that it’s not only an issue elsewhere in the world; it’s a growing problem here. Five states in the US are currently undergoing a water crisis with more to follow. Water is being used without regard for the future. Many experts predict that wars will be fought over water in the future, just like wars are being fought over oil and food. Unlike many world issues that are happening like terrorism, economy, poverty, war and oil-related conflicts, the water crisis is a problem that you can make an impact in immediately simply by choosing to do so. Do you want to know how?

1. Keep Informed and Learn the Facts
The first step towards making a difference is to know what you’re making a difference in. There are countless resources out there with facts and figures that overwhelmingly state that the world is facing a global water crisis.

You can check out incredible organizations like the Water- Use It Wisely conservation campaign, Circle of Blue and WaterDrop.

Circle of Blue is an international network of leading journalists, scientists and communications designers dedicated towards finding and presenting information that highlights the global water crisis. Not only is it a resource site for global water news, but its stories have a human face. You can get involved by easily becoming a member and suggest stories that bring to light the urgent water crisis that heavily affects global poverty, sustainable development and political conflicts.http://www.circleofblue.org

The Water – Use It Wisely campaign knows the importance of water conservation and they know even more about how to get the message out. Water – Use It Wisely conservation campaign is an Arizona-based organization that is one of the world’s leading water conservation educational outreach programs. Many towns, cities, public and private organizations have adopted their campaign water conservation programs. Getting the word out is not their only focus, but they give you proactive ways to make a lasting difference. http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/

Do you want a one stop portal for up-to-date news on water-related issues? Then take a look at WaterDrop, a Vancouver-based organization dedicated to spreading the word on the water crisis in North America and the world. Not only do they provide news and information, but they highlight water crisis facts and figures, insightful interviews with movers and shakers in the water world, ways to get involved and people who make a difference. You can become a WaterDropper by becoming a Twitter member to receive up-to-date articles from their website and or become a member of their group on Facebook.

2. Join a Group.

Most of us have a Facebook page were we connect with others and share our hobbies, interests, likes and dislikes and even our daily activities. Why not join a group that states that you believe in something that makes a lasting impact on the entire world? Many water crisis organizations out there allow you to become a member of their group on Facebook. Not only does this allow you to connect with people worldwide that have the same desire for change, but it also gives notice to the people that you know personally that you are a part of something that can make an impact on the global water crisis. http://www.facebook.com

Nothing makes a bigger difference than by simply spreading the word. OneDrop, started by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lileberte, is dedicated to fighting poverty around the world by ensuring that people across the globe have access to water. This program is designed to encourage millions of youth around the world to take action through investing their energy, willpower and creativity.

3. Reduce Your Water Use

Do you want to make an impact that you can immediately see? Than get involved in reducing your own water use right away. There are seemingly limitless resources out there on ways to save water, but check out this dynamic and inspiring initiative designed to help you make an immediate impact.  Go Blue is a collection of partners dedicated to increasing awareness about the growing pressure on fresh water supplies. With your help, you can assist in ensuring that water will be a resource that will be available now and for the future. On their website, they give you essential tips on decreasing daily water use in every area of your life.

Do you want to calculate your daily water use? Go Blue also provides a “Water Calculator” that allows you to figure out how much water you use on a daily basis. You may find the results shocking.

4. Inspire Others
People inspire people. We all want to be a part of something because it not only inspires us, but motivates us into action. Be a part of something that changes the world and be an inspiration.

You can become a water advocate with the World Water Day project.  World Water Day is an international day of observance and action designed to draw attention to the world water crisis. Not only can you create your own Water Advocate page, but you can use it to express your own concerns and inspire others around you.

5. Volunteer Your Time
Hope International, a Canadian-based nonprofit organization dedicated towards enabling people in developed countries to connect with people in the poorest parts of the world. One of their incredible projects is dedicated towards providing access to sustainable, clean water sources to the poorest people on earth. Hope International has projects in Afganistan, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethopia, Nepal, Philippines and Sudan. Hope International knows the importance of sustainable water resources for people.

According to Hope International, children living in the developing world are 520 times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases than children living in North America due to a lack of access to clean, sustainable water sources. You can join Hope’s cause by either joining to volunteer with their overseas programs or by donation.

Want to find a way to make an impact on the global water crisis in a hands-on way? Samaritan’s Purse runs a program called “Water for Life” that sends people across the world to implement their Household Water Program in communities that have little or no access to safe water. The program works closely with local partners within the community to develop the water program. The great thing about the program is that they strongly support a continuing relationship with the local community. Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with the CIDA since 1998 and currently has programs running in 19 countries around the world.

H2O Africa is a non-profit organization founded by Actor Matt Damon to raise awareness of clean water initiatives in Africa. It is an integral part the documentary, Running the Sahara. H2O Africa is dedicated to sustainability and integration, to create long-lasting programs that impact the entire community, from education to infrastructure development.

You can choose to make an immediate impact by choosing one of over a hundred specific projects to sponsor. These projects range from hand dug wells for clean water to deep well projects for entire communities. Each project will make an immediate impact in communities that range from the hundreds to the thousands.

These are only a few resources to get you started. There are countless organizations, companies and initiatives out there striving to spread the word, but they are useless and powerless unless they have help from the most important source: You. A difference can’t be made in the growing water crisis unless people begin to see a need and take action. The first step in changing the world begins with you deciding to change the world.

Do you have an organization, cause or water conservation campaign that you would like to share?  Please tell us about them in our comments.