Green power and water recycling: be switched on by switching off

Each Australian uses an average of 100,000 litres of water a year, and our electricity use is extreme. Our series Life Swaps looks at ways to reduce the load

Despite living on Earth's driest populated continent, Australians throw around water as though the supply were endless. We are the planet's greatest per capita consumers of water, with each person using an average 100,000 litres a year. Much of that is invisible to consumers, expended on the food and products we buy.

Our electricity use isn't much better. A recent Environmental Justice Australia investigation found east coast coal-fired power stations - where emissions limits trail places such as China - are responsible for deadly pollution that causes a suspected 130 premature deaths a year in Sydney alone. Yet oil and coal remain our primary energy sources, powering 70% of the nation.