BLOG COMMENTS RE: Water, Water...Not So Much Left
As many of you know, during the first week of June, the governor declared a statewide drought here in California. We are more than a little concerned about future sources of water for our children, especially with the planet heating up.
With climate change, we will be seeing big weather changes which could cause our water supply to be even more fragile. Additionally, with population increase and urban sprawl to historically dry climates, our water resources will be stretched thin. Right now much of it is polluted and will be more so in the future if we don’t change our path. So, what are we doing now to conserve and protect our water for our children? I think that we should slow down and embrace conservation the way our great grandparents did during the depression. Save everything; every drop of water. We should stop worrying about how clean our sinks and tubs look, how clean we think our bodies should be, and how our homes should look. Here are some ideas (in order of easiest to more difficult) that we can do at home and at work to recycle and conserve the water we use.
Let’s start with the easy stuff….
well, I think they are easy, some will disagree:
Take showers at the same time as others in your house so you can prevent wasting water just to get the shower hot.
Take shorter showers and shower less often. Shower with someone? (naaa! Sometimes that takes longer.)
For kids’ baths, fill the tub as low as you can let it go.
Put a large solid object (like a brick or two) in your toilet tank to take up extra space. This is the cheap way to have a low flow toilet.
As far as flushing the toilet goes……If it’s yellow let it mellow. If you add some brown, flush it down!
Plug your sink and collect all the water you can from the day and use it through the day to wash dishes.
For goodness’ sake! Don’t use water to remove leaves from your driveway or sidewalk. (Pick up a broom. You will get some exercise.).
Don’t wash your car unless you really can’t see out the windows. Only give that car a quick shower, forget the soap…..it’s harmful to marine life anyway when it goes down the storm drain.
Set your sprinklers to water for less time and less often.
Here is a more difficult list:
Stop using a dishwasher and wash dishes by hand.
When washing dishes, turn off the tap when you are not using the water.
When washing dishes, set the flow of your tap as low as you can go.
When washing up in the sink, turn off the tap every time your hands are not in
the water.
Turn off the shower when shaving and when soaping up.
Rig the used bath water to water plants.
Don’t clean your sinks, tubs, and bathes as often. Conserve water when
cleaning them by turning off water when scrubbing.
Stop watering that water sucking lawn. It’s mostly just for show anyway.
When steaming food in a pot, consider cooking something in the water below the steam tray.
After boiling food or steaming food in hot water during cooking, don’t forget to re-use that water for cleaning dishes or cooking something else.
These are the most difficult changes to make because some involve changing systems already in place and spending more money:
Ditch your thirsty lawn in favor of low water, drought resistant landscaping
Put plants on drip water systems instead of sprinklers.
Install low flow water nozzles on all hoses outside.
Implement a rain catch system and use the rainwater for all your plants.
Look into installing a greywater system for your house.
Install low flow water nozzles on all showerheads, sink taps, and bath taps.
Use a pressure cooker for cooking. Save huge on water used during
cooking. You can use it for cooking most anything.
Install low flow toilets for more accurate low flow water saving.
Some of the most difficult changes will also save the most water. However, the little changes will add up to big water savings if done consistently. Right now, I don’t do a lot of these things on the list, but I plan to take a hard look at what I do and make some revisions. Do you have some water conservation ideas or more chat about the drought? Lets share ideas and chat in the Discussion Forum.
-- Melinda
Re: BLOG COMMENTS RE: Water, Water...Not So Much Left
What about the washing dishes by hand? I thought that used more water than using the dishwasher?
Re: BLOG COMMENTS RE: Water, Water...Not So Much Left
Re: BLOG COMMENTS RE: Water, Water...Not So Much Left
You are right. Thanks for bringing that up. Good point.I think in general washing dishes by hand does use more water. Problem, I think, is that most people wash their dishes first anyway before putting them in the dishwasher...so there is double the water usage right there. Some people don't because they are lucky enough to have a really good dishwasher that does not bake food on to the dishes.
Also, if you conserve water while washing dishes, then I think dishwashing by hand only is a good way to go.
Bottom line is that it comes down to how you wash your dishes by hand. Do you conserve water, or do you let the faucet blast or power wash everything?
