So California's in a hell of a drought, and what's worse is that this water shortage is coming to 40 more states. We've been asked (and will soon be forced) to cut back by 25%. It's hard in our house, where we're already water conscious (we don't water the lawn, letting it go brown ever summer and green in the winter). Of course, I know that single-family residences like ours aren't the big problem in the state. But since I like projects and because I like helping the earth, I'm enjoying thinking of ways to save water simply.
(What I really want is a laundry-to-landscape grey water system, but 1) it's daunting and 2) we have a creek below our house. You don't want to add (or risk adding) unfiltered grey water to a body of water which it might harm, and we also don't want to risk over-irrigating our back slope, which could lead to a landslide. I love me some Fleetwood Mac, but not that much.)
So while we try to figure out if a mulched grey water system would be safe and not send our house sliding down the hill into the creek, here are a couple of easy things we can all do to save water for under ten bucks:
1. Get a bucket – Put it in the shower. Catch the cold water you don't stand under while you're waiting for the shower to warm up. Then let the same bucket catch some of your shower water behind you while you soap up, but don't stress about how much. If you fill the bucket, hooray! Don't worry about whether or not it's clean water. It doesn't matter.
2. The next time you flush, use the bucket water. Don't pour it in the tank, that would be gross and would eventually grow things and clog other things up. Just pour it in the bowl. Every toilet is gravity-activated. Just pouring water in the bowl makes it flush (and you can control how much water you add, using even less than your toilet usually uses). Soapy water in the bowl! It evens helps keep it clean. Speaking of which:
3. Mellow yellow. Yep, I hate the concept, too, but I was raised doing it that way, so it's okay at home (not at work – perish the thought). At home, just do it. Good article here. Man, even typing those words just took me back to the 70s when we mellowed every yellow and my mom washed every kid in the same tub of water. I HATE sharing bath water. (Unless it's a jacuzzi bath tub, you know what I mean? I think you do.)
5. Speaking of bath water – think about not taking a bath. If that's not possible because you need to soak the day off your skin with a Lush glitter bomb or your own awesome handmade bomb, use that bath water to perform Step 2, above.
6. Compost instead of using your garbage disposal. We put our kitchen waste in the green recycle bin right now, but I'm hoping to get back to composting in the yard at some point. It's a big project. (Speaking of big projects, I have the seeds in the straw bales! I set up the soaker hose to both that and our square foot garden! It went off using its timer this morning and scared the hell out of me! (The spigot is under the bedroom window.) It ran for a short ten minutes and things were wet! I won't forget to water! And more than that, I won't overwater!!)
7. Shower water. I'm not going to tell you to turn off the shower water while you lather. That's just crazy. I don't even mind being cold, and I wouldn't do that. (Maybe it's easier in one of those one-handle showers? Ours is two handles – you mix the hot and cold to get the right temperature and it's a delicate dance and what a pain in the ass it would be to get it right for the second time with shampoo in your eyes.)
Updated to add this from reader StaceyK – a $5 piece of hardware* that attaches to your shower head allowing you to turn off, or lessen the flow of the water while you lather without adjusting the water temperature - we're going to get one!
8. But do turn off the water while you brush your teeth. That's easy. It's just plain dumb not to do that.
9. Dishes – sadly, we don't have a dishwasher yet (they save water, did you know that?) so I just bought a dishpan basin to rinse the dishes in. After rinsing them, I'll dump the basin in the garden (I know: not on leaves, no contact with humans, not on root vegetables. The lemon tree will love it).
What are your easy (cheap) tips?
*Affiliate link cuz Mama's got a water bill to pay.
For $5 on Amazon (or probably at any hardware store), you can buy a shower shut-off that attaches on your shower head, allowing you to turn off, or lessen the flow of the water while you lather without adjusting the water temperature.
http://www.amazon.com/K1140B-Shower-Shut-Off-Valve-Chrome/dp/B00HSWPYIG
When I have to clean out the dogs’ water bowls, I use the left over water to water the house plants. The violets are especially good with this because I use their special pots where you put water in an outer bowl and the pot that the plant is in rests within that bowl. This means that mungy dog hair and kibble bits don’t get into the plant soil.
You can get plastic containers to put in the toilet water tank so it doesn’t fill up so much and then it uses less water on each flush (but still enough to actually flush!) Dunno where you get them in the States but in the UK you can get them from the water companies…
Make sure you are using ok detergent on your dishes if you use the rinse water for your plants.
And the ecology center on San Pablo has a book on graywater. And you can get more info from graywaterwaction.org. It may not be a bad idea to get a system. I would like to but it’s a bit out of
my budget right now.
South Africa is a water-scarce country, so we’re encouraged to save water at every turn.
Also, because we’re hippies, we try to run a very low water and electricity household. We use only Earth-friendly dish and laundry products, so the water is fine to throw into the garden. We already do the mellow-yellow thing, and the bucket in the shower to catch the cold water. We don’t water the lawn in summer, and water the potplants only minimally. They’re all water-wise anyway. I think the main thing to tell people is “fix your damn leaky taps!”. You’d be amazed how much water you lose from drips. Our tap to our washing machine drips, and I use a bucket to catch it. I then empty the bucket into the washing machine on the next load. It’s a hassle, but much less waste. Households get a small free allowance of water here per month, I don’t think we’ve ever exceeded it 🙂
We shower together regularly. Saving water has never been such fun!
We got that water saver shower thingies and within a few months it didn’t work….:-(…..we dump dog bowl water on the plants…..water bottles with c lean water go in their bowls otherwise on plants….if it’s yellow let it mellow…if its brown flush it down….
I put the water from cooking pasta in the garden–bad idea?
I park my car at the airport right next to where the int’l jets turn those engines on and my white car is always covered in black dusty cr@p. Car washing in the driveway has turned to taking it to the carwash that uses recycled water. Is it wrong to say I miss washing my own car though?
Historically, we’ve never had abundant water here in Western Kansas. It’s kind of a joke with the residents. Water is also very serious business, and it’s extremely expensive. Almost everyone is vigilant about faucet drips, running toilets, and thirsty lawns. Thanks for the tip about the bucket in the shower — will try it.
Do,you have a source for the info that dishwashers save water? My brother and mom think we’re horrible water wasters because we don’t do things the way they do, which includes the dishwasher. I’d love to tell them this! Haha.
Speaking of water, you might enjoy this entry in my blog: http://www.nwkniterati.com/movabletype/archives/MossyCottage/002100.html
Nikki, if you just Google it you will find that the dishwasher uses SO MUCH LESS WATER than washing by hand! I’ve started running the dishwasher even if it’s just got five big pots and pans in it — it uses so much less water than doing them by hand. I didn’t believe it, either, till I googled around a little bit. (Also: Easier and faster!)
Bucket-to-shower idea instituted immediately. What a great plan!
Rachael, before Beth was born, we had a washing machine to landscape gray water system. We simply moved the waste water hook tube to a second pipe I mounted next to the drain, and that pipe had a 4″ collapsible hose about 75′ long connected. We would uncoil it on laundry day and run it to trees, grass and shrubs, moving around the back yard. Cost was under $20 back then.
I wouldn’t worry about laundry water if it is sinking in and not running off. Just don’t use phosphate based laundry soap, as that will build up. Once underground, the sand/soil acts as a filter for all but soluble chemicals. We never had a problem in about 2 years of doing it.
Love, Pop