water conservation
10 08 2008Dear Heloise: To help conserve water, we put a large bowl in the sink, and every time we rinse something, the water goes into the bowl rather than down the drain. When the bowl is full, we use it to water plants in the yard. It’s amazing how much water is used each day. — Carol Lawrence, Newport Beach, Calif.
I usually don’t have time to read this type of Dear Heloise or Dear Abby writings. There are just too many things to read nowadays. Last month I got bored over the coffee table with a group of friends in old town Santa Ana, so I read to them. One guy laughed at the idea, and the rest didn’t show much interest. They thought that wouldn’t make a big impact on the land where water is too cheap and the method is not as efficient as other methods.
Anyway, I got up early last weekend with the idea of trying to see how much water I consume a day in the kitchen alone. So, I put a large bowl in the kitchen sink. I also had a 10-gallon container on the floor nearby. So, every time when I washed vegetable or cleaned my hands, the water went to the bowl. I tried to keep soap and greasy stuff out of the bowl. When the bowl was full, I transferred the water to the large container. Later, I used the water in the container to water the plants or grasses. Boy, at the end of the day, I was surprised to find that I had used 2 containers full of water. It’s around 20 gallons of water just for one person per cooking and cleaning around the kitchen. Imaging how much water we spend on taking shower, doing dishes or laundry, and other stuff.
Thanks, Carol Lawrence. Your idea have changed my thinking about water conservation.
