Photograph by Gabi Moisa/Shutterstock Washing machines are
second only to toilets as the largest water users in the home,
accounting for 14 percent of household water use. Household
water consumption has a significant impact on aquatic life,
especially when water supplies come from freshwater lakes and
streams. The Rio Grande, recently named one of the World
Wildlife Fund's Top 10 Rivers at Risk, has been so overextracted
that saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico has begun moving upstream
and endangering native species. So far, 32 of the river's 121
native species have been displaced as a result of increased
salinity. Just like the Rio Grande, city water supplies are
succumbing to saltwater intrusion, which occurs when increased
pumping of groundwater allows saltwater pools to infiltrate
freshwater supplies, making water unfit for human use. In
response, cities are installing energy-intensive desalination
plants, which require more fossil-fuel-derived power that, in
turn, contributes to global warming. To date,