I hear it a lot: I know we’re having energy/environment/existential issues ‘round the globe but what can I do about it…I’m just one person. So, I thought I’d put some calculations behind that question and since I live in Colorado I’ll start here ‘cuz we’re currently in a drought due to our snow fall last winter. Statewide snowpack was at 56% of median on January 1, 2026, with the Arkansas Basin as low as 47%. Snowpack also peaked unusually early (late Feb to mid-March instead of the typical April) and then melted off fast — by April 9 it had collapsed to just 22% of median statewide, and some reports put the low point closer to 29% of normal.
So, we have ~ 6 million folks in our state and since most folks pee ~ 7x per day, let’s average out the gallons per flush at 2 gallons and use the mantra. And if all 6 million people in Colorado reduced their flush 2x per day, that’s 12 million gallons of water or enough for 14.2 million people and their daily drinking water requirement. Not bad.
Now let’s move on to your Amazon boxes…that all of us have piling up somewhere and with too many of ‘em destined for the trash! Again, my pal Claude says a rough estimate is 5,000 cubic yards of cardboard and paper every day that not only won’t go to the landfill when you recycle, and if we stick to the toilet we referenced above, that’s about 175 thousand rolls of TP, (yes, cardboard doesn’t typically recycle into TP but cut me some slack here), and if the average roll is 75 feet, that’s roughly the distance from Denver to New York every day draped with your favorite bog roll!
I could go on but you get it – these stats are just Colorado and not including turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth or using paper instead of plastic picking up after your dog and carrying a canvas tote to the grocery store. It’s all the law of big numbers friends and if we each do our part, it will make a difference.
“Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.”
— The Dalai Lama