Day 28 of 31 - Save Water at Your Bathroom Sink

Even the smallest change to your everyday routine goes a long way… shutting off your faucet as you brush your teeth, for instance. Watch this video for more water-saving tips.

Day 19 of 31 - Doing Dishes

So, you took a trip down memory lane, letting the warm water flow over your hands as you washed the dishes…who hasn’t been there? But the amount of water wasted during that daydream is quite the wake up call. Watch this:

Day 18 of 31 - Conserve Water in Your Bathroom

Entertaining guests at your home this winter? Watch this video to learn a fast and easy way to save water in the bathroom.

Check out this Interview with What You Can Do Creator, Jessica Arinella on Halogen TV!

What You Can Do Creator, Jessica Arinella, was recently interviewed by Halogen TV. She talks about how the project has developed over time and what issues inspire her the most.

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What can you do in a minute? Order a pizza? Brush your teeth? Jessica Arinella , founder of What You Can Do, believes you can do a lot more.

Creator of one-minute videos about small and simple ways to make big and meaningful differences, Arinella shows that you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint, alleviate cruelty to animals, protect the oceans or reduce hunger – take your pick, or do them all! (Warning: Doing them all will take four minutes.)

Arinella remembers the day she decided that she was going to start paying it forward; on her blog she wrote that it was not unlike the feeling that she got while watching the polar bears in “An Inconvenient Truth”. At the time, she was gripped by what she calls an “ISD,” short for Impending Sense of Doom.

That sense would eventually lead to a monumental surge of inspiration when she started What You Can Do in 2009.

Halogen TV recently chatted with Arinella to discuss her motivations, which issues hit home the hardest and an easy way to save 25 million trees.

How did you get motivation for What You Can Do , and how has it evolved since its inception?

Jessica Arinella: The motivation for What You Can Do came from a two-fold catalyst in my life. The first part was that I lost my mother to lung cancer. Losing her was a profoundly shattering experience for me, and it brought up that age-old question of “What’s it all for?” I found myself deeply questioning the world, how it works and what my place in it was. For some odd reason I was watching a lot of documentaries during this time. During one especially compelling film, I became so agitated that I left the room and started reading Us Magazine. I kept thinking, if there is nothing I can do about this issue, then I don’t want to know about it. I would rather read an article on Brangelina than confront that overwhelming feeling of helplessness again. Documentaries are so good at illuminating the gravity of the perils facing our world, but they often stop short of showing us how we can help fix the problem. I kept thinking, someone should do something about that! And then it hit me. Wait! I have access to one of the best producers in New York – my sister, Alicia Arinella. I have (albeit limited) production skills! Maybe I could do this.

Every weekday in 2010, we produced a new video highlighting what someone could do to take action on a variety of social and environmental concerns. We now have a website that serves as a toolbox for change and features over 260 videos. Each episode showcases a different one-minute idea to make a positive impact on causes like climate change, hunger and ocean conservation.

What are the issues that really hit home with you?

I care deeply about all of the issues we have covered, but I think the one that hit me most deeply is cancer. But even more than any one specific cause, I am most inspired by the idea of offering people an action that only takes a minute to do.



When we first started making the videos, we honestly weren’t sure there was something you could do in a minute for something as serious as cancer. But we were excited to learn from experts that, yes, there IS something you can do to help fight lung cancer, for example, in just one minute. This is especially inspiring to me because it implies that if real change is possible in one minute, then these problems are potentially solvable.

One of your one-minute videos says 75 percent of the energy used to power consumer electronics is consumed while the product is not in use. Think of how much less coal we could burn if we just unplugged our phone chargers!

I know! We’ve learned so many illuminating facts like that during this project. But our goal is to present these statistics in a way that inspires people rather than just making them feel guilty. For example, the average American can use up to 100 gallons of water a day. BUT, eight of those gallons can be effortlessly saved just by shutting off the tap while you brush your teeth morning and night. If one person made that simple change, he/she would save 240 gallons of water a month! Multiply that and the numbers are staggering. If 100 people did it, we’d save 24,000 gallons of water. With 1,000 people? We’d save 240,000 gallons!

Our one-minute actions don’t need to happen in a vacuum. We are hoping to build a community where we can start to see our individual actions add up to real and measureable change.

Conserving water is a recurring theme on your site. Why is this a major concern?



The EPA estimates that by 2013, 36 of the 50 states will be facing local, regional or statewide water shortages – and that projection is for non-drought-like conditions. The good news is there are countless ways to easily save water. We’ve already discussed turning off the tap when you brush your teeth, but you can also do so when you wash your face or shave. When you are heating up the water for your shower, put a bucket in the tub to catch the run off. You can then use the saved water to refresh your plants or wash your car.

In your opinion, what’s the best way to get people to understand the cause and effect of their actions?

One thing that helps me is to be more mindful of how much of a resource I actually need. Just become aware of how much water is going down the drain when you wash the dishes, or how many napkins you grab for your lunch. And then, start making changes where it’s easiest for you. If a hot shower is your favorite part of the day, don’t make your life miserable by taking it away. Start with something that feels easier. For example, maybe start with turning off the water when you wash the dishes, or make an effort to unplug your electronic equipment when it’s not in use. We recently learned that cable boxes are a huge culprit when it comes to energy drain, so maybe unplug your box at night.

I’ve learned that changing the world doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Know you can make a difference even one minute at a time. Just try it for one week. You will be amazed by what you can do.

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Wanna read the article on Halogen TV click here!.

Dishwasher = ♥

I, Alicia Arinella, have an unnatural attachment to my dishwasher. I love it. Having grown up with a dishwasher, I took it for granted. I never knew how wonderful this invention was until I moved into an apartment with NO DISHWASHER. It almost sounds like a swear. No Dishwasher. It makes me shudder.

I want to take a moment and give a big old shout out to Josephine Cochran. That's right - a pretty savvy lady invented the dishwasher and unveiled it at the 1893 World's Fair. Even though restaurants and hotels bought her invention, it didn't take off for home use until the 1950's.

Now, no offense to people who like the rhythm of hand washing dishes. I have plenty of dishes that have to be washed by hand, but for most of my things, I use the dishwasher. I'm pretty attached. Sometimes I feel like Donna Reed, so happy that I have an appliance in my home.

But lately, I think my dishwasher is sick. She's not cleaning as she used to, and that makes me worried. I know that she works hard. We like to go through dishes around here. With upwards of four people eating lunch here every day and two eating breakfast and dinner, she has her work cut out for her. I know that a dishwasher can use less water than washing dishes by hand if you run it when it's full. But what if it's not running properly?

I'll tell you. If it's not running properly, you have to rewash dishes and that's unacceptable! To wash things twice? Not only is that ridiculous but I'm wasting water. So I pledge to get a new one. I have found some pretty inexpensive ones that are Energy Star Certified. Even though the process of researching, buying and installing a new dishwasher takes more than a minute, I think that it's important to save the water, so I'm taking in on.

How about yours?
Let me know - Alicia

Guest Blogger (and Blogger Choice Awards Nominee) Meredith Forbes Talks about the WYCD Water Conservation Challenge

As a huge fan of What You Can Do, when Jessica asked me to be a guest blogger, I was thrilled.

The great perspective on taking small steps to make a big difference is one of my biggest inspirations for my own green humor blog - The Green, The Bad and The Ugly. GBU is about going green and staying green, encouraging the good and outing the bad, while keeping a sense of humor.

What You Can Do's water conservation challenge got me thinking about my own water-based trials and tribulations . . . and What I Can Do about them.

I remember this short film from an episode of Sesame Street. It was a split screen. Each side showed a faucet with a bowl underneath it and a boy ready to brush his teeth.

On the left, the boy turned the water on, wet his toothbrush, turned the water off and began brushing, only turning the water back on to rinse.

On the right, the boy brushed away while the water ran.

The camera then panned over to the first kid's bowl. There was barely any water in it.

On the right, the bowl was overflowing.

But lately, I've had to question whether I was on the left or the right.

I was conscientious of my water usage, but what did it matter if I gave one more swoosh of the toothbrush in my mouth before I turned the water off?

Apparently, it does matter.

As it becomes clearer that so many of the earth's resources, like fresh water, are finite, it is important to take steps now to preserve what we do have so as not to leave our grandchildren with a crisis.

These days, I'm very careful about how long I let the water run. I bought a 5-minute timer for my shower and I soap up all my dishes before I turn the water on to rinse. If my kitchen were bigger than a walk-in closet, I would probably invest in an energy efficient dishwasher (only running it when it's full, of course).

So you can imagine how it drives me crazy to see store owners and apartment building workers hose down the sidewalks...especially when it's about to rain.

And I have a physical reaction when I see women in the restrooms let the water run while they dry their hands. Most notably...Miss Niagra Falls.

She works on our floor. Everyone knows her. Even the non-greenies in my office will come back from an encounter with her in the bathroom and roll their eyes in disgust.

The other morning I was in the bathroom and I heard the water turn on. I knew it was her. I could tell by the angry way the water was pouring out. Forceful. Hot. I emerged from the stall and there she was...standing there, looking at herself in the mirror, drying her hands, slowly...carefully...water running.

I went to the sink and washed my own hands. I tried to control myself. I really did. But it was too much for me to handle. She might as well have been running her fingers down an aquatic chalk board.

I contemplated the repercussions of saying something.

But instead, I turned my faucet off, walked over to her sink and shut off the water. As she stared at me half in shock, half pissed off, I threw my towel away and quickly exited.

I felt shaky as I left and went out of my way to avoid that bathroom for a few days. But I soon decided to face her again. Now when I see her, she's cautious but friendly and she usually waits for me to leave before turning the faucet on.

Maybe I made my point.

Now I'm thinking of going up to one of those shop owners or apartment guys and asking them to turn off their hoses.

Or maybe I'll just do it for them.