After living in Australia during the drought and summer water restrictions and going up to my cabin where we use rain water, I have learned some good little tricks to personally save water.
In Australia you are limited to four minute showers. Turn off the tap when you’re lathering up. My shower had a timer in it – four minutes is not a long time. We would collect the water in a bucket when we turned it on and the water was warming up. We would then use this water to water our vegetable garden. And only water the vegetable garden in the morning and evening – its too hot during the day and will just make it evaporate!
Australian toilets actually have two flushes. A light flush and a ‘heavier’ flush. At my cabin if it yellow let it mellow if its brown flush it down… you know the saying…
Turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth! The shower water at my cabin is heated on the fire, so there is only so much you can have. Its amazing how efficient you can become in the shower when you don’t have a lot of water.
Some other tips:
Adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, sidewalk, or street. A lot of people do this…
Use the garbage disposal sparingly. Compost vegetable food waste instead and save gallons every time.
For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.
Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
When washing dishes by hand, fill the sink basin or a large container and rinse when all of the dishes have been soaped and scrubbed.
Washing dark clothes in cold water saves both on water and energy while it helps your clothes to keep their colors.
Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.
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