5 ways to reduce your water footprint . . .
1. Collect rainwater. Set up a rain barrel under a rain gutter outside your house. You can catch hundreds of gallons to use for watering the lawn, washing the car, etc. Just don’t drink it, and make sure to keep it covered with a screen so it doesn’t breed mosquitos. Check your local municipal regulations to see if a rain barrel is allowed. Learn more about rain barrels.
2. Collect shower water. Put a bucket in the shower while you’re waiting for the water to warm up, and use the water you catch for watering plants or cleaning.
3. Reduce your flush. If you don’t have a low-flow toilet, put a plastic bottle filled with water in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used per flush (also a great way to recycle that plastic water bottle).
4. Love longer grass. Set lawn mower blades one notch higher. Longer grass means less evaporation.
5. Reuse. Recycle. Buy second-hand goods whenever possible. You’ll find that lightly-used, higher quality items often cost less than new low-quality goods. Your trash is someone else’t treasure! Make sure to donate or re-sell your old stuff instead of just throwing things out.
Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.
