by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

As you already know, I have a healthy respect for germs. But I’ll bet you didn’t know that washing your hands in hot water does not kill any more germs than washing in cold. The urban greens at Ideal Bite tells us it’s the plain old soap and the friction of rubbing that cleans your hands of both dirt and germs. Same goes for dishes.

I was ahead of my time, I suppose - I stopped letting the faucet run to warm after I was a kid at Summer camp - no hot water available there - and I realized that the cold water is refreshing and made me feel even more clean (we also bathed in a really cold lake). Now I know it’s because cold water rinses soap residue faster and better than warm water. I still always use the first water out of the tap to wash my hands or face. If I want warm water occasionally for dishes (it sometimes just feels good on cold days), I heat up a kettle to fill my wash and rinse bowls before I begin. Ahhhh. It becoms a special treat.

What’s the big deal, you say? Think again. the average running faucet releases 2 gallons per minute and there is a lot of handwashing going on. It’s a big deal when you you consider that our 1950 - 2000, our population increased 90%, while our water usage increased 209%. The EPA tells us that more than 36 states predict water shortages in the next 6 years. (More about water in Sierra magazine, Nov./Dec. volume 92. No. 6.)

Keep learning. Keep thinking. Water supply is the most pressing environmental issue and deserves our ongoing attention. Cold is the new Hot. Try it.

Tags: community, culture, health, nature

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Green Misc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.