little white truths

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.

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.

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