I’ve lived in California my whole life and we’ve been in a near constant state of drought the whole time. It’s particularly bad this year and my water district has asked users to voluntarily cut water use by 10% (other water districts are requiring mandatory reductions and charging fines to those who don’t cut back). Here are a few practical things I’m doing:
- Shut off the water while brushing teeth (I’ve always done this but I know there are still people around who don’t)
- Shut off the water in the shower while shaving legs
- Only run full loads in the washing machine
- Make sure the washing machine is set to the appropriate water level if running a smaller load is necessary
- Only run full loads in the dishwasher
- Wash large items by hand and small items in the dishwasher for maximum water efficiency
- Pour dishwater out on the garden (not on plants you plan to eat though)
- When it rains, put containers out to collect the rain water for use on the garden
- When watering with the sprinklers or hose is needed, do so after the sun goes down to minimize evaporation
- Take the car to a car wash where the water is reused
What else do you do to conserve water?
Photo Credit: Carmella Fernando (via Flickr)
Featured in All Things Eco.
Shared in Thrifty Green Thursday, Make-Do Monday.
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{ 8 comments }
Do people really still leave the tap running? I turn it off instinctively no matter where I am. I do it without thinking…
Great post. Am adding it to my link love
These are good tips. The only thing I can think to add is fix your toilet if it runs all the time! It’s usually something pretty simple and if it turns out that you need to buy a part, they usually aren’t too terribly expensive.
mub’s last blog post: Dutch Goodies Winner
Why can you not pour dishwater on food plants? If your dish soap is safe for washing your forks that you’re going to put in your mouth, it’s safe to get it on plants that you’re going to eat, right?
‘Becca’s last blog post: Toilet Training Tips
Dysentery and some other almost forgotten diseases can be spread by contaminated water. To be on the safe side I’ll be putting my gray water on my ornamental plants rather than on my food plants.
Hi. I was just surfing around some blogs, and I came across yours. It’s pretty nifty and I’m really enjoying my stay here. I’ve bookmarked your site for daily visits, and I hope you’ll visit me. I’d love to have you.
Have a great day and I’ll see you around the blogosphere. 
Jenny @ Another Jennifer Speaks’s last blog post: By the Lake
We don’t have to worry a lot about water here but I still like to be conservative.
When bathing my little kids I only put about 2-4 inches in the tub. It works just fine and saves a bunch of water. Also often I have more than one in there at a time.
I also will sometimes use bath water to water my house plants and if a houseplant is dusty I will just take it into the shower with me.
Thanks for the good tips!
Abbi’s last blog post: Fun with organizing
These are great tips. Our posts go a long way in spreading awareness about the water situation in South California. In fact Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has setup a great site called bewaterwise.com for the same – http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html
We save the water from showers, washing dishes and washing our hands and use it to either flush the toilet or water our plants with it. The only time we use fresh water is to water our tree’s and that is only for a short time once a week.
Zig
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