Moving and heating of water account for as much as 20% of energy usage overall in many locales.  So reducing the amount of water you use, especially the amount of hot or warm water, results in a major amount of energy saved and CO2 emissions avoided.

Install low-flow shower heads in all your showers.  There are also available a variety of extremely simple, low tech flow restrictors, some as simple as small, thin, brass or plastic washers (disks with holes in them) which can be inserted inside of your current shower head, sink faucet or hose.  They work by boosting pressure at a smaller volume of flow much as we do by putting our thumb over the end of a garden hose.

Some flow restrictors are so simple and so inexpensive that they may actually be hard to find in today’s commercial world which tries to sell you the most complex, expensive and energy using technology.  Ask for them at your local ‘mom and pop’ hardware store, or plumbing speciality stores if you cannot find them at ‘the majors’.

Here are some links related to flow restrictors:

• A wide variety of flow restrictors from Watersavers (Czech Republic)
• From Macao, a report on water conservation in the hotel industry with a good picture of some common flow restrictors about half way down the page.
• Installing Flow Restrictors from EnergyHawk.com
• Ace Hardware on Water Saving Devices