As you are enjoying your morning eco-friendly coffee in your bamboo sleepwear, look around. Something that tends to get overlooked when you are making your life more eco-friendly is the water you use every day. Using a bamboo towel is good, but if you are wasting 100 gallons of water to take your morning shower something needs to change. Below are a few things you can look at in your home to see if you can save a little water.
First, look at your toilet (or listen). If it is running constantly, you can easily buy a kit at your local hardware store to fix it. I personally had this issue at my own home, and this five minute fix saved us a lot on our water bill. A toilet working correctly uses about 5 liters of water when flushed. Something you can do to lower that amount is to take an empty plastic bottle (by recycling it) and fill it with water. Seal the bottle and put it into the tank of your toilet. This will reduce the amount of water that fills your tank. Another issue you may have is a leak between the tank and the bowl. You can check for this by adding a few drops of food coloring into your tank. After a few hours have gone by, check the toilet bowl to see if the coloring has seeped into there. If it is colored, you have a leak.
Another thing you can do is check for leaks elsewhere in your home. Turn off the water to your house for 2 hours (and remember to do it when nobody needs water!). Check your water meter when you shut the water off and when you turn it back on. It should be the same number. If it isn’t, you have a leak!
Most garbage disposal units require you to use water for them to work properly. Instead of dumping all of your leftover food into there, start a compost pile!
Next, install faucet aerators (they are the little mesh screen pieces that screw into the nozzle of your faucet). A lot of faucets have them already. If you have a faucet that does, check the side for its gpm (gallons per minute) rating. If it is over 2.75 gallons, you want to replace it with a lower rated one.
Did you know that a 4 minute shower uses around 30 gallons of water? If you lose track of time in the shower, using a timer will allow you to get out sooner. Another trick you can do is turn off the water when you are washing yourself with soap and while you are shampooing your hair. You can also install a low flow shower head.
Lastly, only run your dishwasher when it is full. Your dishwasher will use the same amount of water whether you have 2 cups in there or a full load of dirty dishes.
Small changes can equal big differences. By looking at your water use, you can find a way to save water and maybe even save some money on your water bill.
For more eco-friendly news and tips, visit Green Earth News’ Green is Grand section!
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Your tips are really useful. If people start implementing these tips, they will surely save gallons of water. Thanks for the tips.
Some great tips here. If only more people followed them.
Having eco-friendly appliances in your house can be very beneficial as this can cut down your electric bill.
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