Sunday, January 31, 2010

Don't waste water!

Besides knocking off waterboarding, here are some ideas:

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...there are plenty of behavioral changes that can be made to reduce your family's water footprint.

* Turn off the water when you're washing dishes by hand, brushing your teeth or shaving.
* Only run the clothes washer or the dishwasher when you've got a full load.
* Avoid baths and take shorter showers.
* Plant drought-resistant lawns, shrubs and plants in your yard, and put down mulch wherever you can to help water from evaporating too quickly.
* If you must water your lawn, be sure to place your sprinklers in such a way that no water will fall on sidewalks or driveways, and only water in the early morning or evening, when the weather is cooler.
* Use a broom, and not a hose to clean your driveway and sidewalks.
* Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet.
* Use the garbage disposal less and the garbage more (or better yet compost!) and you could save 50 to 150 gallons a month.
And yes, just because we've had some glorious rain in California does NOT mean we're out of the drought season. In fact, I doubt in the foreseeable future we will ever return to extravagant water usage. Drought mentality is here to stay.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

if it's going to effing rain on me 6 months of the year, I can't respect it. ;)

but you would be amazed how many subdivisions here don't get approved because they can't prove adequate water supply, in a rain forest.

ellroon said...

Maybe a rain forest and lots of rain but at least you have thinking city managers. And at the rate we're going, you might not be a rain forest for very long. Especially if you keep getting those enormous fires.

There are just too many people and not enough water. It going to get really nasty...