Easy ways to save water #1

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I've just posted my thoughts on how we as individuals aren't doing enough in our daily lives to safeguard natural resources for our children and grandchildren (see here), and I thought I would follow that up with some easy ways to save water.

I'm going to start with the things we're already doing in our household, and over the next few weeks I plan to come up with more ways to save water and then write another post. At some point I'll also do one on saving electricity and gas, so stay tuned for that if you're interested.

What I'll also note now is that doing these things has saved us hundreds of dollars each year in utility bills. That's the other benefit of getting smarter about what you use and how you use (and reuse) it. So keep that in mind because the financial benefit is very real and it's not to be sneezed at.


Stop rinsing plates in clean water before putting them in the dishwasher. I mean really.

This one really gets my goat. The idea of rinsing dirty plates in clean water BEFORE they're going in the dishwasher TO BE CLEANED WITH MORE CLEAN WATER is just so ridiculous to me that I can't even fathom it. Yes I know why people do it, but there's a way to do it that does not involve clean water. My golly.

Every morning when you wake up and put the kettle on, train yourself to make your second step - while you're waiting for the kettle to boil - this very simple thing. Put the plug in the kitchen sink. There, it's done. 

Have your coffee. Put your dirty plates, cups and cutlery into the sink throughout the day.

Now, every time you wash your hands today - after changing nappies, gardening, before applying your makeup, after you've been to the loo - wash your hands over the plates. Some of the food gunk you're so desperate to dislodge before you put said plates into the dishwasher will remove itself, without you even needing to rinse the damn things. And any water that doesn't get caught in cups and bowls will still be caught in the sink, because you've put the plug in.

When you load the dishwasher, remove your 'rinsed by themselves' items and put them straight in. If there are any with crumbs/goo still on them, doesn't matter. Swish them around in your dishwater or take out your brush/cloth and clean them off in your dishwater if you need to. Bob's your uncle. Rinsed.

And if you're thinking 'oh that's gross, having water with crumbs and tiny lettuce floaties in my sink all day', get over it. We're too precious about things like that in first world countries. Do you think people in third world countries would care about rinsing dirty plates in grey water before the plates are going to be cleaned anyway? NO.

Get over it. Sorry, but there it is.


Do not waste 'cold before it's hot water'. Just don't.

If you're going to manually wash plates and you want to get your water hot before you do so, fill your kettle with the cold water that comes out first so it's not going straight down the plug hole. If your kettle is already full, fill a jug. Chuck that in the fridge so you have cool drinking water.

And after you've finished washing up, leave the water there. That's your rinse-before-the-dishwasher water (see above). Doesn't matter how dirty it is, it will still perform the rinsing function for you. Gosh, water's great like that.

When you shower, put a bucket down to catch the cold-before-hot water. Hell you could drink that water: it's clean after all. Use it to fill the aforementioned kettle or jug. Failing this, you can at least put it on the garden or use it for your dog or cat's drinking bowl. Have kids? Just put hot water in their bath and use the cold water in the bucket to bring the temperature down.

If your bucket isn't wide enough to catch all the water from the base of the shower, use your arms. Yep. Hold the bucket right under the head so nothing gets wasted. Invest in a wider bucket if you prefer.


Get smarter about rainwater

We're lucky enough to have a rainwater tank, but if you don't and you don't have the money to invest in one yet (you will, once your utility bills start reducing), don't worry. Just leave a bunch of empty containers and buckets outside when it rains.

There you go, there's more rinsing water. There's more water to put on the garden tomorrow when the sun's out again, or to water the plants inside or the ones that didn't get enough rain because they're under shelter outside.

My dog drinks the muddy rainwater in the park, so she'll absolutely drink clean rainwater. I've also used rainwater to boil pasta in: no one got sick and we're still alive. Funny that.

If you have kids who like to muck around with water (mine have spray bottles that I've filled to spray the garden with, because that's what they like to do), use rainwater for this. Or if you've run a bath for them, use hot water only and add rainwater to bring the temperature down.


Never leave the water running when you're brushing your teeth or cleansing your face.

I really hope that no one still leaves the water running while they're brushing their teeth, but if you do, stop now. It's so wasteful. Sure, wet your brush with a tiny bit of water, brush, spit it out and then use a tiny bit of water to wash the residue away. Better still, use rainwater for this - or the water in the bucket that you've saved from your shower.

When you're cleansing your face, put your cleanser on dry first. Add a tiny bit of water and massage. Do not leave the water running while you do this. I use a damp cloth in the cleansing process, so what I do is lay my dry cloth over the sink. I turn the water on and splash my face a bit, and the splashing water has dampened my cloth. Then I wipe my face and I'm done.

Alternatively you may prefer to use a bowl of warm water for cleansing and dampening your cloth (I know some people do, and it's certainly better than leaving the water running while you cleanse), so keep doing that but time your cleansing for sometime after you've boiled the kettle. There's your warm water, and there's no power wasted because the water has already been warmed. Use the least amount possible.


Reassess how much water you use to boil pasta, how you boil pasta, and what you do with pasta-water afterwards.

I've spent a lot of time working out just how little water I can use to boil pasta, and I've surprised myself in discovering just how little that is. 

Not all of it needs to be covered, trust me. Even if you're using spaghetti. Soon enough it will soften and dunk itself underwater anyway. Better still, break the spaghetti in half so it's not so long, and only just cover what's in there. You'll know if you ever need to add more water halfway through the cooking process, but most of the time, you won't. 

Experiment. You'll soon find that you can use half the amount of water that you first thought you needed.

Oh! And you don't need to boil the water before putting the pasta in. I'm never quite sure why people do this (same goes with adding oil to the water, since oil and water don't mix anyway so it doesn't make sense - add oil or butter once it's drained to stop pasta sticking). If you put the pasta in at the same time as the water and boil the whole lot together, you'll use less water because the pasta is taking up water-space and you'll know how much water you actually need. Plus it's faster so you'll have dinner on the table sooner!

When the pasta is almost ready but not quite, turn the gas off. Leave the lid on the pot and let the pasta finish the cooking process in the boiling water and steam. It only takes a few minutes. Not only will this save you gas, but it also means that the water you're dealing with when you drain it isn't quite as hot so it's safer.

Draining the pasta: drain it over your dirty plates with the rinsing water you've been saving all day because the plug's in and you've been washing your hands over the sink, and all of a sudden you'll have hot rinsing water. Even better. There's nothing to rinse in the sink? There will be after you've eaten. Put the plug in again. This is hot water. At least use it to wipe down your kitchen sink.


Don't set your kids unreasonable expectations about how full their baths need to be. And teach them what to do with 'old' drinking water.

You don't need much water to wash a little body. Really you don't. We put just enough in so that if they're lying down then the water might cover half their bodies. It's enough to wash two kids completely (including their hair) very well. 

Our parents/grandparents didn't teach us this because they didn't know as much about the environment in their day. But you know what? Our parents/grandparents didn't know that you shouldn't smoke, drink or eat sushi when pregnant in their day, but we've all taken that on board haven't we? So forget the bad habits your parents taught you and teach your kids something else. We know better.

The same goes for 'old' drinking water. Now if I've had my glass of bedside-table water sitting out overnight then I still drink it in the morning, but I agree that there is a time when the water has been out for too long. I avoid this with my own water by putting it in the fridge (same goes with tea or coffee that I haven't quite finished - I put it away for tomorrow and throw some ice in so I've got an iced drink), but there's a time when I need to discard the water that's been in my kids' sippy cups because it's had its day.

That water goes in the dog's bowl first, or on the garden second. If you're time-poor then add it to your rinsing water. It's not dead yet.


Aim for hygiene, not CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

Now I understand that this will be an uncomfortable topic for some because many people just can't handle having a house that isn't sparkling clean, and I do understand this because we all have our things - but at least read this so you can start to reassess your own cleaning standards, and if you can't lower the bar on this particular point, then at least make the changes I've mentioned above. Everything helps.

I will mention, though, what I said above. We're too precious in first world countries. Do you think that people in third world countries waste natural resources so they can see their reflections in plates and on floors? NO. Do you donate money and items to good causes? Good on you. Now donate natural resources to your kids and grandchildren by not wasting so much on unnecessary cleaning today.

I clean once a day, before my husband gets home, and I've only been doing this after having kids - partly as a mark of respect for him (because my 'mess tolerance' levels are higher than his), and partly because my back doesn't need me to be bending down and scrubbing, picking up toys, wiping the dust away etc all day long. I have enough back pain after having young children; I don't need to be adding to it.

Before kids, we cleaned the house on the weekend and just dealt with occasional 'necessary' cleaning when it arose during the week. That's enough.

How much do you clean? How much water do you use when you're cleaning? How much power? Can you sweep up the crumbs instead of using power by vacuuming? How much do you actually need to clean? Can you channel that cleaning to particular areas (eg the more important ones, like the bathroom and kitchen) and lower your standards for the rest of the house? Can your garden become your haven instead? You'll connect more with your environment in your garden. Ain't no connecting with toilets and floors ; )

Does cleaning make you feel better, is it a stress release? Great. Again, get into gardening. When I need to take some anger/stress out, I go outside and do some much-needed weeding or hack away at some overgrown plants. Feels great. And it uses no natural resources except my own.


In sum

That's enough for now. I do have some other things coming to mind but I'll save those for my next post because I would like to think of more things over the next couple of weeks. That's my task for January.

On a personal note, I've been feeling low lately because I'm weaning my son (if you've been there you'll understand: your body pumps you full of happy hormones when you're breastfeeding so you're more likely to grow your offspring into healthy, resilient little beings, but it takes those hormones away when you're weaning because you don't 'need' them anymore (that's debatable ; )) - so there's a resulting mood drop that's never fun), and I've decided to turn that low energy into something more positive. 

I'm always reflective and melancholic when I'm low, so let me reflect on the water we're still wasting in this house and what I can do about that, rather than sitting here and feeling woeful about world affairs.

I guess we could call this reusing negative energy/resources in a more positive way, so it fits in with this post ; )

Do let me know in the comments if you have any additional ways that you save water. I've thought of some but collectively we can share information, tips and tricks - so together we can learn to do the best that we can.

And we can keep learning, every day.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x


* All images courtesy of unsplash.com


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