Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Blah-Blah-Blahg: Food For Nought

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

The average amount of water us Yankees use in a day is more than any other country in the world. People in the States use 151 gallons per person per day whereas the French survive on 71 and Brits use a mere 37!

The good news is that you needn't stop washing and brushing to save a few gallons each day.

Some water saving tips:
1. DON'T hand wash your dishes! If you have a dishwasher, let it do the work - even if it's not an Energy Star it will still use less water. Only run it when it is full and don't go overboard and pre-wash dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
2. Keep your shower time down to 5 minutes. If you must bathe, use the bath water to water your plants.
3. You can halve your kitchen's flow in a few painless (for the wallet and for the old cranium) minutes. Buy a faucet aerator for less than $10. Just slip the metal collar over your faucet head and voilá - air meet water, water meet air. The mesh introduces air into your water stream to maintain a consistent pressure while reducing the volum of water that you use. Chances are that if you look inside your faucet's nozzle and it tells you the gallons per minute - you already have one. But if you don't they can reduce your use by up to 50%!.
4. Drink tea! Instead of your regular cup of coffee in the morning, have a cup of tea. Most coffee makers require far more water to use and clean up than your average kettle. Moreover, less water is used in the process of growing and harvesting tea leaves than coffee beans.
5. If you live in a rainy place, invest in a rain-barrel. They're about $100 bucks and they can retain up to 35 gallons of water. They are collapsible and can be stored easily in the off-season. Hey, rain is free water!

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