How to use less water: 15 essential tips - from beef burgers to megabutts to cutting back on clothes

I went on a mission to help save the world's water, and found dozens of ways to do it, including ice cubes in pot plants, giving up jeans and mastering my flushI spent much of last year's boiling hot, dry summer freaking out about drought. Baking days, hosepipe bans, parched plants and suffering wildlife gave me acute day-to-day anxiety and a real fear for the future. This year, I was determined to do something more productive than hand-wringing, so I resolved to cut my water consumption.Then it rained for much of the summer. The UK had 170% of average rainfall this July, making it the sixth wettest on record. But that doesn't make my efforts pointless: we still need to save water. Scientists have calculated that the climate crisis makes drought 20 times more likely, so one wet summer only offers short-term respite. The UN predicts that demand for fresh water will exceed supply by 40% by 2030 worldwide. In the UK, Sir James Bevan of the Environment Agency warned in 2019 that, without action, UK water companies would face the "jaws of death" - the point at which demand for water outstrips supply - within 20 years. Continue reading...