Center for Biological Diversity


For Immediate Release, December 8, 2015

Contact: Stephanie Feldstein, (734) 395-0770, sfeldstein@biologicaldiversity.org

Don't Be a Drip: 'Water Hog' Project Highlights Impact of Water Waste on Wildlife

New Campaign Identifies Top 'Water Hog' States, Including
California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO— A new education campaign encourages people to save water for wildlife by identifying the nation’s top “water hog” counties and most wasteful household water-use activities. The “Don’t Be a Drip” website was created by the Center for Biological Diversity, with support from Levi Strauss & Co., to raise awareness about how water consumption affects endangered species.

“It’s easy to forget that every time you turn on the tap, that water is coming from rivers, lakes and streams that wildlife depend on,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center. “The reality is that water is a finite resource, and careless human water consumption is altering our ecosystems, destroying natural habitats and sapping water sources for birds, fish, mammals and other wildlife.”

The campaign website (www.DontBeADrip.org) includes an interactive map of high water-use counties — the majority of which are in California — and an infographic showing the water footprint of common household activities. People can also share colorful graphics with messages like “I take shorter showers for the sandhill crane” and “I water less to leave more for the arroyo toad” to show their commitment to saving water for wildlife.

“Now that it’s winter and many regions are getting rain and snow, it’s all too easy to get careless with water use,” said Feldstein. “We need to continually keep the water hog at bay to give our parched ecosystems a chance to recover, especially in states that have been suffering from drought.”

The top 10 “water hog” counties in the United States are: Maricopa County, Ariz.; Riverside County, Calif.; Salt Lake County, Utah; Sacramento County, Calif.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Clark County, Nev.; San Bernardino County, Calif.; Nassau County, NY; King County, Wash.; and Orange County, Calif.

“For many of us, running the shower or leaving the water on when washing the dishes has become an unconscious habit,” said Michael Kobori, Levi Strauss & Co.’s vice president of sustainability. “We want consumers to realize that every wasted drop of water down the drain negatively impacts countless ecosystems. This campaign aims to remind consumers to wake up and turn off their autopilot behaviors.”

Levi Strauss & Co. is committed to reducing its water usage, saving more than 1 billion liters of water through its Water<Less™ finishing process, evaluating the environmental impact of its products through lifecycle assessments and educating people about reducing water and energy consumption through the introduction of the Care Tag for Our Planet in 2009, and the Field of Jeans initiative and “Are You Ready to Come Clean” quiz in 2015.

The Center for Biological Diversity’s Population and Sustainability program addresses the connections between human population growth and overconsumption and the resulting wildlife extinction crisis. The program’s initiatives include giving away thousands of free Endangered Species Condoms and encouraging people to “take extinction off their plate” by reducing meat consumption.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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