We’re in the final days of the AtoZ Challenge! It’s gone quickly. While I’m ready to slow the pace a bit, I’ve had a lot of fun.
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Water. We can live without it for three days. We need it to grow everything we eat, from fruits and vegetables to meats. California’s drought is particularly alarming since the state grows much of the nation’s food.
Even here in the rainy Pacific Northwest, we are officially in a drought. The snowpack on the Olympic Mountains in minimal this year. People are concerned, and complete strangers have initiated conversations with me that begin with, “Can you believe there’s no snow on Hurricane Ridge this year?”
There seems to be some squabbling in California about who should be conserving water. People don’t want to think about not flushing their toilets as much when Nestle is harvesting water for bottling, or water-intensive fracking is going on. I get it…but it doesn’t matter. When we’re in a crisis, we each have to do what we can.
I grew up with parents and grandparents who were products of the Great Depression. They didn’t waste anything. My grandma washed out her plastic bags for re-use, and I remember rubber bands hanging from a cabinet knob. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems as though we have changed as a society from one that conserves to one that consumes and then brags about it.
We take water for granted because we are used to its flowing freely from our spigots. Still, there’s no reason we can’t conserve. If all of us pitch in, we can make a difference.
So, what can we do?
- We keep a bucket in our bathroom. When I start running the shower, the water is too cold, so I collect it in a bucket until it warms up. I then use the water on my plants.
- Keep showers short. I like a long shower as much as the next guy, but we just need to get clean.
- Grass requires a lot of watering. Consider replacing grass with native plants that don’t require much watering once they’re established.
- I’m admittedly a meat eater, and it takes a lot of water to produce the meat we eat. My body does not do well with a vegetarian diet, but we have cut back on our portion sizes, so we’re using less.
- If you’re a gardener, water early in the morning. If you water in the heat of the day, it’s less effective. Use drip irrigation where possible.
- Mulch your plants. This will help retain moisture in the soil, so you’ll need to use less water.
For more water saving tips, click here.
I totally agree with you in that society of today is into “disposable.” My parents saved EVERYTHING to reuse. My kids are shocked that I still have items that I used when I was first married. “Mom, why don’t you replace that OLD thing?” because it still works and I don’t need a new item. Now, we don’t water our yard, but we don’t have vegetables growing. I could be more careful with my showers though. Now, I am surprised that Hurricane Ridge isn’t topped with snow. Snoqualmie recently was blessed with a little snow. Reading the Seattle Times this… Read more »
Our kids can’t believe we’ve hung on to our iPhone 4s! They keep telling me we’re available for an upgrade, but the phones work just fine.
It would be interesting to hear what your California friends have to say. I remember when we went to Israel…how different a place it was from what gets reported in the news!
Good tips. We really need to be aware of what we use and try to conserve.
Thanks. We are always looking for new ideas.
Here in North Carolina in the Eastern part of the state we are blessed with enough rain that my new garden, that is now established, needs less water to be going on with. There is still drought throughout the south that restricts water usage. This post is a good reminder of things people can do to be mindful of the predicament.
I’m glad you’re getting rain! My last year in Houston, it was like someone turned a spigot off. I have never complained about rain since!
We’re in a drought and are redoing our back yard with a drought resistant theme.
Stephen Tremp
A to Z Co-host
W is for Window and White Noise
http://www.stephentremp.com
That’s wonderful! I don’t recall where you are, but Tucson comes to mind as a city with some great water-saving ideas and programs. I think drought resistant plants are a great idea.
Great writing and greatly important information. I don’t throw rubber bands away until broken or melted, as happens in Florida. I often reuse items and care about the use of water. But not as well as you describe and therefore you have given me some new habits. My parents were depression survivors and it used to get on my last nerve. Now you’d think I was born two decades earlier.
Thank you for the great information and I love your writing talents. You’re so informative and obviously do your homework.
Love you dearly my friend!
Thank for for such a warm comment! *blushes* I love this: “…it used to get on my last nerve. Now you’d think I was born two decades earlier.” That is so true!
Water’s on my mind all the time. We’ve always had enough, but usually by watching how we use it very carefully. Now that we’re into another drought, we really are tight with the old H20. I did plant some fava beans, green onions and carrots early, but they’ll be used by June. Then I won’t have my fresh veggies. 🙁
I’m really concerned about the people are don’t seem to be thinking about it at all. I find that odd!
Great post. I always love anything that reminds people to think about their choices and what effects they have on our planet. Cutting/reducing meat consumption is probably the number one way to reduce water use, but every bit helps. My family and I live more like you say your grandparents lived. We barely throw anything away. We try to reuse everything and be very thoughtful about our choices in terms of the environment. We try to save water when we can (we’re vegan, take short showers, have very water efficient appliances, we don’t have a lawn or garden to water).… Read more »
Ula, we are fortunate to live in an area where people live more like you do, and it’s been a great influence on us. We have a car, but it seldom leaves the driveway, and we won’t replace it until it is no longer reliable. We make it a bit of a game to see how little we throw away! Composting has really cut down on what we throw out.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments!
Those are some handy water conservation tips!
Thanks!
You are so right! We all need to do more. The lack of snow in California this year has been scary. Normally we would have had at least five or six snow days at my kid’s school. This year we needed zero snow days. I consider myself pretty water thrifty, but even I took extra steps and built a 100 gallon rain water recovery system this year. I’ll be using it to keep my vegetable garden green this summer. Every bit helps and going the extra mile to save water is something everyone needs to think about. Thanks for a… Read more »
Ah, I totally forgot about a rain catchment system!! Thank you for sharing that idea! We wanted to do it here, but we have a crazy neighbor who barked about it, and we’re really trying to pick our battles with that guy. But it’s a great way to harvest and conserve water.
Great tips. I hadn’t thought about the bucket in the bathroom. Good idea. Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
Thanks, Lisa!
Great post, about something really important. Another point is that running water even when there isn’t a drought means a pumping station somewhere is using electricity. Turn the tap off in between toothbrush rinsings, and stuff like that!~Liz My blog is at: http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com Blogger will take you to the wrong site.
Great point!
Hi Nadine — Gwynn Rogers sent me here. I lived in SoCal from the ’60s through ’90s, most of my adult life, and they were squabbling with Arizona over who should get the water even then. It’s a semi-arid region, so why expect a lot of rain. But, I read that they’re doing better, natural plantings instead of lawns, and so on. I live in Delaware now, and we’ve had lots of rain and snow this year; so I think we’re getting some of the West’s water. You have some great ideas here — I like the bucket in the… Read more »
Hi, Samantha,
Welcome to my blog! Great to meet you. I’d love to take a look at your blog. It’s really tough when a loved one has dementia. If you have a chance, take a look at the blog Dating Dementia…Nancy also does a great job writing about Alzheimer’s. She was her mother’s caregiver as well.
WE’re Not sHort of water in Scotland, but agree with your points about conservation of all things.i’m as careful as I can be, but it’s not always enough. I’m good at saving water by not washing my car!
Yeah, our car never gets washed, either!!
We visited Scotland last fall and had a fabulous time. We got poured on our first day in Edinburgh, but lovely weather the rest of the time. What a beautiful country!
Those are great tips. Our water levels are above or right on here in the Mid Atlantic. After our brutal winter we’re hoping for some dry weather. Even so, we conserve water as much as we can. We don’t water the grass and keep only a few annual flowers that need watering which I do at dusk. Those are great tips.
I know you’ve had an unbelievable winter this year. I hope you have a great summer to compensate!
I’ve only gone through one year of real drought where we live and I’d rather ride out another Hurricane Rita than to go through that again. My parents grew up in the Great Depression and I learned those tricks and others. Cheese moldy, cut off the mold and eat the cheese. Cereal stale? Spread on a cookie sheet and toast it in an oven for a few minutes. You are absolutely right, you do what you can. You can’t afford to worry about what someone else is or isn’t doing. ~ The end in in sight!!! ~ Visit me at:… Read more »
Hey, I didn’t know that about cereal! We don’t eat much of it, so that’s handy to know. We’re almost there, can you believe it? Whew!
Hurricane Rita is how I met my future stepchildren…but that’s another post for another day.
I hope you make that post!
Great post! I can relate to it. I too remember the rubber bands on the door knob. Posting that brought a smile, thanks 🙂
You’re welcome, Donna! Thanks for visiting!
Great post and tips!
Thanks, Samantha! And thanks for visiting.
Excellent tips. It is hard to conserve water, but we can, if we try. Great idea with the cold shower water.
Water is life! You have shared practical tips that can be easily implemented. Thanks!
You’re welcome! Thanks for visiting!