Easing Up On The Faucet

November 16, 2007 - Leave a comment...

We Don’t Have To Say GoodbyeAs part of my efforts to leave less of a footprint on this round home of ours, I’m motivated by two things: The longevity of the planet, and the size of my utility bills. Fortunately, a lot of solutions work for both motivations.

Right now I’m going to focus on my water bill. Not only is clean drinking water a limited resource, it takes energy to filter and prepare it for public consumption and it costs money here in Tennessee. Sure, you can install low-flow toilets (and these days they actually do flush a full load), but for those of us still renting, that’s not really an option*.

Here’s what I plan to do over the next few weeks:

  • Take Shorter Showers. Water flows at about 5 gallons per minute, and unless I lost a fight with a skunk I probably don’t need to stand there for very long.
  • Save It For The Rinse. I don’t really need to run water while I’m shampooing or lathering up- in fact, that kind of defeats the purpose. A simple water cutoff valve, like this one, makes it easy to save the water until the rinse cycle AND doesn’t blast you with hot/cold water like shutting off the shower does. I think I’ll grab one of these from Lowe’s today and install it over the weekend (it just screws in place).
  • Shut The Sink Off. Sinks run at about a gallon and a half per minute- better than the shower, but still a waste. I don’t need the water running while I lather up my hands, brush my teeth, shave, or scrub off makeup. Heck, I can just fill a cup with warm water to rinse off my razor. Again, just save the running water for the final rinse.

So over the next few of weeks I’ll be minding my water bill and watching a lot less water and money go down the drain. That should be enough to make these easy steps permanent habits.

*Oh, and you can make your own low-flow toilet by filling a few 1-liter bottles with water and placing them one at a time into your tank. When you start flushing twice to do the job, pull one of the bottles out.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock[/tags]

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  • http://thoughtout.biz Mike Talmadge from THOUGHT OUT

    Matthew, As you know we are boaters and our boat has a 40 gallon fresh water holding tank. I installed these http://www.cetsolar.com/savewater.htm on the 3 fittings on the boat (and our home) years ago. The water last 3 times longer now, it is simple math. I always say work smarter not harder.

  • http://matthewebel.com Matthew Ebel

    Mike-

    Excellent work! And a a very easy way to measure the efficiency too, a perfectly closed system.

  • http://www.christopherspenn.com Christopher S. Penn
  • http://karenjcardoza.com Karen (aka MrsB)

    Great tips! Now if I can only get my teenage son to take less than a 1/2 hour shower I’ll be in business. For more tips on making your life more green, you may want to check out Dori and Val’s podcast More Hip Than Hippie at http://morehipthanhippie.com I’ve been listening to them for years and although I’m not sure how they feel about Beer and Coffee, I know they’re really into Beer and Chocolate ;-)

  • http://matthewebel.com Matthew Ebel

    Mrs. B-

    Maybe promising them that you’re setting a 10-minute timer as soon as the water starts running, then you’re running the dishwasher or the laundry? That’d motivate the crap out of me.

    Christopher-

    Compact fluorescents are an excellent idea- I’ve moved four times in the last 5 years, taking the same light bulbs with me from Spokane to Nashville and soon to Boston. If you’re even more progressive and know a bit about wiring, you can always make your own CREE LED lighting (since LED’s use no mercury and fluorescents do)… but I’ll be covering that when I build the new studio in Boston.

  • Dad

    Glad to see you’ve decided TO SHOWER!

    Next time you are in a public restroom and see the urinal running constantly, or the sink running, turn it off, or report the broken equipment and ask the owner to shut it off until it’s repaired. Saving them some money and saving the planet… one flush at a time.

  • http://www.wikifur.com/wiki/EarthFurst EarthFurst

    Thank you for the idea of using water-filled bottles to convert a toilet to low-flow.

    While not an option for renters (without permission from landlord) .. I do like dual-flush toilets (light-flush for pee and regular-flush for solid waste) and they’ve apparently been around for more than ten years.