Live in an area where water is effectively rationed by compulsory water restrictions on non-essential use, as most Australians have done over the past 10years and you'll understand where I'm coming from.
Goulburn, a town with a population of 20,000 about 60 miles from here, was so drought stricken that they were restricted to a maximum of about 40 US Gallons per day, per person.
That had to cover ALL:
- showering/bathing
- internal house cleaning (bathrooms etc)
- toilet usage
- cooking
- washing
- dishes....
....and heaven forbid if you were caught washing a car, hosing a path or using a hose to water a garden - fines were issued. Things were desperate and people installed water tanks and had water tankered in at substantial cost.
Gardens died....unless people saved their rinse water from their washer or, as is quite common here when water is not, had a bucket in the shower to catch what they could to keep plants going....
Canberra, the national capital with a population of 300,000, was until very recently on water restrictions...and we had been for over 6 years
Water conservation goes beyond 'What's in it for me'....and takes on a much bigger picture. As I said above, when you know people who are affected by water shortages, and every person in this country does, you do what you can to avoid potential waste even if it may not help them directly...but it may help yourself in the future....
Canberra is now at 100% dam capacity, but sales of front load machines havn't slowed at all according to one source of mine, but are still increasing...and we can still buy a traditional, water hungry top loader too should we desire it - but the vast majority don't....
It is unfortunate that Americans are being fed machines which are expensive and have not got the mechanical longevity to justify the price. I can buy a perfectly good (Euromaid - Beko made from Turkey) 7kg (17lb) machine for less than $550...which sounds expensive, but then factor in our average annual salary of USD$64000, it suddenly looks cheap....a Bosch can be had for about $750-800....but an American Whirlpool is closer to $1200!
Nobody in this country has said 'No, you can't have it'. What is said implied is 'Fine, have it. But use it contientiously and not be wasteful'