I recently got into it with a man at the local pumpkin patch. Though it didn’t come to fisticuffs, I was frustrated when I left the exchange. Days later, that frustration was replaced by humility when I had to practice what I preached.

I won’t go into the whole story but let’s just say kids were breaking rules and in doing so, wasting resources. When I asked them to stop so as to not waste anymore, a man standing nearby told me it wasn’t a big deal because the place where we were had plenty more where that came from. I replied that wasting is wasteful regardless of how much is left in reserves and that we need to be mindful of it. He responded with his original argument, I got angry and quiet and thankfully Andrew found me soon after so we could leave.

Fast forward a few days and I’m in the shower about to shave. When I shave, I leave the water running. We live in St. Louis and I could just about throw a rock from our house and I’d hit the great Mississippi River on one side and the Missouri River on the other. Water shortages are never issues for us. I spent most of my life in FL so I know what it’s like to live where water is in short supply and to take water conserving measures but ever since I moved here, I’ve never worried about it. So as I was about to begin shaving, I was thinking about that and remembered what I had told the man at the farm. I was being wasteful even if a water shortage was not a concern. In that moment, I found a cup we use to rinse the girls’ hair, filled it with water, turned the shower off and used the water in that cup to complete my mission. It was amazing how much little water was actually necessary for shaving. It raises the question, if we can save our resources, why don’t we? Even when it seems unnecessary.

Since then, I have been trying all kinds of little ways to conserve water. It’s been interesting to see just how much water I’ve gotten into the habit of wasting because it wasn’t a concern. Good thing I taught that man a lesson so I could learn it myself.