Cutting Your Water Use In Half

Many predict that in the not too distant future, we will be fighting over water, not oil. The problem is that the Earth isn’t generating the clean, drinkable water that it used to. The good news is that if we can use less and learn to protect our rivers, lakes and oceans, we may drink to see another day! So how can we really get a grip on our own personal situation?

There are many small changes that you can make today. Would you consider trying to cut down your home water consumption by half? Since the average American uses 151 gallons of water per day, and the French get by on just 71 gallons (Brits even less), it makes sense to give it a go. Here are some tips to get you started: Consider purchasing an Eco Drop. This is a British invention, which measures how much water you use when you shower. The little man icon displays how much water is pouring out and when you’ve used the recommended amount (which is pretty fair), a buzzer goes off for 5 seconds. Since I get carried away with all manner of scrubs and exfoliators in the shower, it makes sense to have, however annoying it is, that little man telling me when enough is enough. A shower used 2.5 to 4 gallons per minute for a conventional shower head. It might also be a good idea to get a low-flow shower head too. They are inexpensive an can cut down your water consumption by half.

The toilet uses 3.5 to 6 gallons per flush. That’s a lot of water. Consider:

a) A low-flow toilet

b) A dual flush toilet (where you press a different flush button for #1′s and #2′s)

c) Placing an old liter water bottle filled with small rocks into the toilet tank

A bath uses up to a whopping 60 gallons a day. That’s almost your entire water quota (if you’re going for 75 gallons). I am trying to give up the tub altogether, although I have to admit, it’s my biggest eco-sin.

Your Dishwasher uses 4 gallons per load if it’s Energy Star rated (6 if not). ONLY run when its choc full.

Watering your lawn can be the biggest waster of the lot. When running your hose, you are using 5 to 10 gallons per minute. Ugh – so when I’m only watering the planters on my patio, I can easily use up to 50 gallons on a hot day.

It makes sense to either rip out your lawn and landscape an edible front yard or have some eco-friendly artificial grass installed – a worthwhile investment. I love New Grass.

I’m all for the edible front yard. Even if you don’t want to rip up your entire front yard, you could build two or three raised beds and grow quite a few veggies. I’m currently teaching a Garden-To-Table class to the 6th Graders at a Charter School in Los Angeles. We have just built raised beds and last week we planted baby salad leaves and Arugula. When asking the kids, who doesn’t like lettuce, a few (many boys), raised their hands. That’s my Gorgeously Green Challenge this month: to persuade these foot-shuffling/eye-rolling dudes that baby salad leaves, drizzled with fruity olive oil and balsamic is heavenly.

Either way, even if its pouring with rain in your neck of the woods, consider the bigger picture and treat clean water as a limited and extremely precious resource.