Haley’s Homespuns: Little-Known Hacks to Save Water
30 Jul 2016
A few tips and tricks to save water
It’s hot! Water-wasting ways are tempting in summer, but conservation should always be key. We know you water your lawn in the early morning or late evening to minimize waste (you do, right?), so here are more water-wise tips and tricks:
Give produce a bath
Fill a bowl with water and splish-splash produce clean instead of running the faucet over it. Then dump the bowl over your garden when you’re done.
Take a shower
Baths usually require 30 to 50 gallons of water, but you can get in and out of the shower in 20 gallons or fewer if you keep it short.
Take your car to the carwash
A commercial carwash is more efficient than you are. Believe it or not, taking your car in for a power-wash treatment uses less than half the water a manual hose-and-sponge job does.
Reuse your water bottle
A 12-ounce disposable water bottle uses two or three times its water contents in its production, while a reusable bottle saves both plastic and water.
Inspect your toilet
A toilet leak can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day. To make sure this isn’t happening in your home, drop some food coloring into the tank and don’t flush. Wait five minutes then check to see if the food coloring shows up in the bowl. If it does, you’ve got a leak. Fixing it could be as easy as putting a rubber flapper in place.
Let your grass grow
Raise the blade on your lawnmower to the highest setting so that it only cuts the top quarter-inch of grass blades. Taller grass means deeper roots, which makes your lawn more drought-resistant, reduces evaporation, and minimizes weeds and diseases.
