In honor of Earth Day I want to talk about water. I've been wanting to post about this for a while.
I grew up during a long drought. We spent many FHE's talking about how to save water. My parents were very adamant about it. They would go to extreme's as to pop their head into the bathroom to let us know we've been in there too long. This was all before low-flow shower heads and water efficient toilets were around.
What did we do to save water?
-Put bricks in our toilets
-Let the lawn die
-took shorter showers
-soaked dishes longer before washing
-washed our cars less frequently
Oh the list goes on. One of the things I would do was dip my toothbrush in a cup of water before brushing. Normal people run it under the faucet to wet the toothpaste. Does this do much you ask? Well, I still have the habit and I'm sure over the years I've saved gallons of water:)
While living in a house last summer that these people so generously offered to us when we were homeless while coming back from Switzerland we learned a great trick. Take an old milk gallon jug and while waiting for the water for your shower to warm up save it in the jug. Then every time you go to the bathroom dump it in the tank when it's refilling. This is so great.
We would do it now but we have a flash water heater so the water gets hot instantly. But, we do have a drip in our tub that we leave a pitcher under and when it gets full we dump it in the toilet tank.
Tips for saving water:
(these are basic tips for people who don't own a home and are renting.)
1. Take shorter showers (you can even go to extremes like Jared does and turn off the shower when you're lathering up.)
2. Don't run water while brushing teeth
3. Rinse razor in a sink full of water
4. Don't run the water while loading the dishwasher
5. If you have a lawn PLEASE DO NOT WATER DURING THE DAY! HUG WASTE! THE WATER EVAPORATES. I see this all too often. WATER IN THE EARLY MORNING!
6. Do laundry and run dishwasher when you have a full load.
Jared and I can't wait to own a house someday so we can create a system to save our rainwater for watering the plants.
These are just the basics and easy for EVERYONE to do.
Here are some helpful websites with lots more tips.
http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
I grew up during a long drought. We spent many FHE's talking about how to save water. My parents were very adamant about it. They would go to extreme's as to pop their head into the bathroom to let us know we've been in there too long. This was all before low-flow shower heads and water efficient toilets were around.
What did we do to save water?
-Put bricks in our toilets
-Let the lawn die
-took shorter showers
-soaked dishes longer before washing
-washed our cars less frequently
Oh the list goes on. One of the things I would do was dip my toothbrush in a cup of water before brushing. Normal people run it under the faucet to wet the toothpaste. Does this do much you ask? Well, I still have the habit and I'm sure over the years I've saved gallons of water:)
While living in a house last summer that these people so generously offered to us when we were homeless while coming back from Switzerland we learned a great trick. Take an old milk gallon jug and while waiting for the water for your shower to warm up save it in the jug. Then every time you go to the bathroom dump it in the tank when it's refilling. This is so great.
We would do it now but we have a flash water heater so the water gets hot instantly. But, we do have a drip in our tub that we leave a pitcher under and when it gets full we dump it in the toilet tank.
Tips for saving water:
(these are basic tips for people who don't own a home and are renting.)
1. Take shorter showers (you can even go to extremes like Jared does and turn off the shower when you're lathering up.)
2. Don't run water while brushing teeth
3. Rinse razor in a sink full of water
4. Don't run the water while loading the dishwasher
5. If you have a lawn PLEASE DO NOT WATER DURING THE DAY! HUG WASTE! THE WATER EVAPORATES. I see this all too often. WATER IN THE EARLY MORNING!
6. Do laundry and run dishwasher when you have a full load.
Jared and I can't wait to own a house someday so we can create a system to save our rainwater for watering the plants.
These are just the basics and easy for EVERYONE to do.
Here are some helpful websites with lots more tips.
http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
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5 comments:
bricks in the toilet? what does that do? and do you keep the same cup of water for dipping your toothbrush in on the counter for a while? if not, how is it different than getting a quick run of water for it? great tips!
and when you do need to wash your car, go to the ones at the gas station - they recycle their water, so you're actually using less than if you did it in your front yard (even though the sun is fun).
For Earth Day I baked cabbage in the trunk of my car! (or put more precisely... On Earth Day I found a head of cabbage in the hot trunk of my car that somehow wasn't brought in with all the other groceries a few days before.)
Nice
And for you out in california, remember that 20% of the energy used in califonia is used to pump water around, purify it, then treat the wastewater.
So, you may think that 'oh its all those rice growers in California that really use all the water'. Well you'd be right, thats the big waste. But you there, Palo Alto mother, are saving ENERGY big time because you recycle your toothbruth rinsewater.
I'm inspired
What I remember from the drought growing up was the saying, if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." Gross, huh?
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