Living in a country with a constant water shortage (due to the lack of rain and local shortsightedness), Patti and I have developed a few habits to lower our impact on this issue.
We wash our veggies (that we receive from a local permaculture farmer) in a bowl, and then use that water for our plants on the terrace (Basil, Verbena, Thyme, Mint and some flowers - which are easy and fun to grow, as well as pleasant to the eye in an urban living environment).
Also, most of us waste tons of perfectly good water in the shower, waiting for it to heat up. By keeping a bucket near the tub, you can save that water for (and I realize this might not seem pretty) flushing your toilet (another glorious waste of drinking water). Even if not every flush during the day is saved, it still makes a difference.
Seeing that the water situation also results in price hikes, this is a considerable save.
This post was submitted by Ariel Bailey.
In addition to using a bucket to catch the water while you are waiting for it to heat you can purchase a showerhead called Evolve that shuts off the flow of water when the water reaches 90 degrees. We bought them for our two bathrooms and they have saved us a lot of water.
Comment by Tracy — December 10, 2009 @ 5:02 pm