How to reduce water and go green?
I can tell already there is going to be a drought situation in California for sure…I want to know how I can reduce water and go green? I really want to help my state any ideas?
btw: I’m already using buckets in the shower, I turn off the water when I brush my teeth, and I’m using left over water from anything to water my plants.
We are in a drought in CA, it depends on where you live as to what stage of water conservation you are required to do. In some areas there will be water rationing. We are at stage 2 in my community and will surely be at 3 or 4 when the final season water totals are reported in about 6 weeks.
You may want to check your city or county website for ideas, info on what stage you are in and rebates for water saving changes. I’ll put the link to my cities water conservation page and the links to what the stages mean.
Here are some general ideas:
Use a car wash not a hose to wash your car.
Put a nozzle that automatically shuts off on any hose you use and check gaskets so there aren’t any leaks.
Put aeriators on sinks, low flow shower heads in showers.
Take showers not baths, wash your hair a few less days a week and if possible switch to a shampoo/conditioner all in one, it reduces your shower by at least one rinse cycle.
You can cut the time you wait for hot water with a little planning, I turn the faucet to hot when brushing my teeth so I’m already getting the hot water to the bathroom a little sooner and try to shower immediately after my husband so I don’t have to wait for the hot water a second time.
You can also turn the water down, many of us are in the habit of always turning the faucet all the way on. When I rinse dishes I put the water on just enough to rinse the food away, not spray it off.
Lawns are a huge waste of water and many people over water, my city is paying homeowners to remove lawns and put in water wise landscaping.
If you have a pool cover it when not in use, you can lose hundreds of gallons from evaporation.
water stopers
go to a WA meeting (waterholics anonymous)
okay so first is the most common to turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth and to not take as long showers.
Don’t water your lawn as much, and water it at night to minimize losses from evaporation.
Low – flow toilets and don’t have a garden (grass/plants/bushes etc). Keeping a lawn and flushing the toilet are the top two most water-consuming habits, unless you install a drip sprinkler system for your lawn. They normally consume like 100% more water than taking a shower. Oh, and quick showers; huge savor.
Take shorter showers! Kinda hard to do during the winter, I know, but make sure you aren’t listening to music or something during it. Concentrate on getting in and getting out a few minutes quicker than usual.
You can also shut off sprinklers if you have a lawn; during wintertime, the moisture in the night air as well as the rain (as rare as it is) will keep it green.
If you have a garden, try a drip irrigation system. Not expensive and saves TONS of water and time because the water lands right at the roots.
And, finally, when you turn on the tap, if you drink tap water, and you’re waiting for hot water to come out, instead of just letting the cold water run, catch it in a bowl and use it for something else later: cooking, watering your plants, or anything of that sort.
Good luck to all of us in California. It’s going to be one LONG year.
take a shorter cooler shower. only water your yard once a week. if the drought is serious, who honestly cares if your grass is a little brown. dont do 1/2 loads of laundry, make sure you have a full load before starting. same with your dishes. FILL your dishwasher all the way full before running it. if you have a small amount of dish, do them old school. fill up the sinks with hot water and hand wash them.
one way is to put a brick in the tank in the back of your toilets, you can measure how much water to use to water your plants and lawn, and you can take 2 minute showers, yes it’s possible, just use the water for only two minutes
collect rain water and use that to water your lawn and plants. If you want to spend the money you can get a water system which collects rain water, It goes through a system in your house cleans it up a bit and is used for toilet water, and for washing clothes.