Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The accidental urban girl's Tuesday guide to thrifty and natural living

Saving water...
Colorado is the first place I've ever lived where I've had to pay for water.  I've always lived places with well water or where the cost of water was such a pittance it was included in the rent.  But here we have to pay for water and may I say it ain't cheap!   We've tried to curb our water usage.  We take fewer showers.  But while I've hoped and prayed and strived to make less laundry it just keeps coming.  Drat!

I know it's a silly thing to get stuck on but I'm not looking forward to paying for all that extra water to keep our garden green.  We have a southern exposure and it is hot and DRY here in the summer.  I've made it a bit of a game to think of ways to save water for our plants.  So far I've come up with two things.  The first is saving the rinse water from the dishes.  The second is showering standing in this giant green bucket you see above.  We have seventeen pots of plants on our upper deck that will need watering.  It's only a few paces from the upstairs bathroom so using shower water makes sense right?  I'll get back to you on whether it actually works or not.  I'm not sure Phil will go for it.  Does anyone out there have any other ideas for me?

1 comment:

  1. Rain barrels are pretty easy.

    A grey-water system would be a bit pricy, but reuse water. A simple option would be to install some sort of diverter under the kitchen sink to drain water into a bucket. Same could be done for the shower if it is first floor with a basement underneath.

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