“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein
Here are five of my favorite simple ways to save water. Simple, creative solutions usually surprise us because we associate simple with easy and believe easy wont work long term. We appreciate simple solutions because they often work well. These solutions are simple, across the board solutions (not just irrigation) that make a big impact reducing the amount of water we consume:
- About 22% of the water you use inside your home is used for doing laundry. Invest in a front-loading washing machine. Older, top-loading machines use more than twice the amount of water than newer front-loading machines and are less expensive. What you save initially will be erased with water costs quickly. One exception is the high efficiency top-loading washing machines. These are a good simple solution as well.
- The average swimming pool holds around 20,000 gallons of water. If you cover your pool when you are not using it you will save hundreds of gallons of water every year. Pools evaporate hundreds of gallons of water every month. Pool covers can be purchased for a few hundred dollars.
- A good dishwasher today uses less than four gallons to do a load of dishes. They are so good you don’t even have to rinse the dishes to before you put them in the dishwasher. Doing the dishes by hand typically takes 20 gallons of water. Unless you do them like Denver Water suggests.
- People who avoid meat and dairy when eating use about 60% less water than those who eat the average American diet. Cutting back on meat and dairy you consume will save water. Who knows you might drop a few pounds as a bonus and improve your health at the same time.
- The United States Environmental Protection agency tells us drip systems are generally more efficient than conventional sprinklers, because they deliver low volumes of water directly to plants’ roots, minimizing losses to wind, runoff, evaporation, or overspray. Drip irrigations systems use 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional pop-up sprinkler systems and can save up to 30,000 gallons per year. Consider installing drip around trees, shrubs, and gardens in place of a conventional sprinkler system.
I’m sure we can add to this list in the comments section. I am looking forward to hearing about your simple solutions. If you enjoyed this post consider subscribing to the blog or following me on twitter @H2oTrends.