Canadians waste water, flush garbage down toilet

This is a recent article in the Epoch Times and well, you may guess my reaction. Here are the facts from the 4th annual Canadian Water Attitudes Study:


- almost 3 out of 4 Canadians admit to flushing leftover food, hair, bugs, cigarettes and other items that could be disposed of elsewhere down the toilet, wasting 6 to 20 litres of clean water per flush; Albertans (83%) are most likely, Quebecois (65%) least likely do flush the wrong things down the toilet - do they not realise it's wrong?
- 55% Canadians believe water is Canada's most important natural resource
- 78% say they try reasonable hard to conserve water - how do you define reasonably hard????
- 80% know the water in the toilet has drink water quality - which does not stop them from wasting it.
- 76% are aware that almost half of the water used in a home is flushed down the toilet
- people between 18 and 35 (84%) waste more water than those over 55 (63%)
- Canadians use on average 327 litres per day - 67% underestimate this amount
- 46% leave the water running while doing the dishes
- the study assumes that Canadians waste water because they (61%) don't know what they pay for it, 70% thinks though it costs enough to be treated as a valuable resource - really? so why don't they behave accordingly?  
-  Canadians pay less for water than other developed nations, e.g. 4 times less than the French, 7 times less than Germans - water use there is much lower!- time to put water meters into every Canadian household and charge per unit!


Water expert Bob Sandford (remember him?) says: "They claim to care about conserving it, yet knowingly engage in water wasting activities, including using fresh, clean water to dispose of garbage." and "Canadians need to understand that water is a finite resource and there are significant social and economic implications related to wasting it." and "This data highlights, once again, that Canadians are not making the connection between their personal water use and the true value of water." and until this changes "our water wasting habits will continue." 


I think lots of Sandford and I wonder if he's ashamed of being a Canadian sometimes for all he knows about water and how Canadians treat it. Some of those percentages are definitely too high. I also wonder why Canadians don't get the message. If at least the governments at federal, provincial and/ or municipal level would get it they could surely crank up the price of water. That will not get them reelected but it will save the future of this country somewhat, and protect the environment.  Now pull yourselves together, Canadians!