Start Saving Water at Home
If you haven’t taken the following steps towards water conservation in your home then today is the day to start.
- Fix all leaks. This is the most obvious thing that you can do to stop wasting water at home. One trillion gallons of water are wasted each year in the U.S. homes alone due to minor water leaks. Get a water detection kit. Use it regularly to check for leaks.
- Replace your showerhead with a low-flow alternative. You shower every day so it’s important to reduce the amount of water that you’re using when you do.
- Install aerators in your other faucets. Your showerhead isn’t the only faucet where too much water is coming out at once. Add aerators to your other faucets to reduce the amount of water flow.
- Convert your toilet to a low-flush toilet. Waste less water every time that you flush. One simple way to do this is to fill a plastic milk jug halfway with pebbles or gravel and put it inside of your toilet tank.
- Insulate all of your hot water pipes. You waste a lot of water by running it to heat it up. This is a lot less likely to be a problem if your water pipes are properly insulated.
- Water your plants with your extra water. Collect rainwater as well as safe greywater around the house and use this water in landscape watering around your home. Greywater refers to water that has already been used in some way but which can be re-used or recycled in order to conserve fresh water. Greywater includes water that comes from washing dishes, bathing and doing the laundry. If it’s collected properly it can be recycled for use in other areas such as landscaping.
- Begin composting around the home. Just because you have a kitchen sink disposal in your home doesn’t mean that you need to use it. In fact, if you’re concerned about wasting water around the home then you’ll reduce your use of the disposal immediately. That’s because the disposal needs a lot of water to work properly. Instead, save those scraps and use them to start a compost pile.
- Turn off the water when you are at the sink. When brushing teeth and shaving at the sink, stop letting the water run. Learn to wash your face with cool water instead of letting it run to heat up. These little things do make a difference day after day.
- Do full loads of everything that requires water. Dishwashers and washing machines should never be run when they are only half-full. It’s a waste of water.
- Find ways to replace water use with other options. For example, if you usually use running water to thaw your frozen meats then consider stopping that practice and thawing them in the refrigerator instead.
Source: greenandsave.com/green_news/green-education/10-simple-creative-ways-save-water-summer-6892
