As a County employee, I receive a monthly newsletter that includes a section encouraging environmentally conscious (aka, "green") practices at work and at home. This month's newsletter included a tip I had not seriously considered in the past:
While waiting for your bath/shower water to warm up, catch the water in a bucket and then use it to water your garden or flush your toilet.I admit it: I have probably wasted a LOT of water waiting for it to get hot for my showers. Sometimes I get distracted and let it run long after it has become hot. I would like to be more responsible in this area. So, for the first time this week, I caught the cold water in a bucket and, when the bucket was full, started my shower (thankfully, the warm water was ready).
Because we live in an apartment and my houseplants only need so much water each week (which I faithfully "catch" from the kitchen faucet with an empty milk jug I keep under the sink), I decided to try using the water to help refill the toilet tank after a flush. It worked, and the bucket holds enough for two tank-filling assists.
I'd love other ideas for using the caught water. Maybe I could use it to soak dirty pots in the sink or to rinse out the tub after a scrubbing. What else?
Photo credit: travz
3 comments:
Great ideas! You can also soak a soiled garment in it and then dump the whole thing in the washer.
pour it through your brita and use it for drinking water
You can also just pour the water directly in the toilet bowl to flush it, and you don't have to open the tank. I was doing this with Joseph's bath water... but sometimes I wouldn't be ready to flush (I've stopped flushing after every pee to save water) and his tub started getting gross....so I don't let water sit in there anymore. I should just get a bucket! (I remember reading that tip in my water bill a while back too.)
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