Sunday, April 03, 2011

Earth Day Challenge Day 3

I finished purging all the rooms today and it is a good feeling!  Now I have a huge pile of garage sale items I have to price in the next few weeks.  Anyone want to help?  

The 3rd Earth Day challenge can also be done in your own home and it can help your budget, just like yesterday. The challenge today is to use less water!  Here are a few ideas to accomplish this:

1.  Do not run water the entire time you are brushing your teeth, washing your hands, washing dishes, and anything else you stand in front of the sink for.  There is no reason to have your water running when you are not actually using it. You might even burn a calorie or two by moving your arms to turn the water on and off...hehe!
2.  Fill a plastic bottle with water and sink in your toilet tank(s). Every flush uses between 5 and 7 gallons of water. With the plastic bottle in the tank, it will reduce every flush by 2-4 gallons of water.  That’s an easy fix with an impact on water usage and your water bill! (idea taken from here)
3. Take shorter showers or fewer showers. 
3.  More water is able to absorb into the ground at night, as it evaporates more during the day when the sunning is beating down.  In the summer months, water your grass at night instead of during the day.  Or if you were me, just let your grass die and don't use any water for your grass. 
4.  Don't buy plastic water bottles. Instead of plastic water bottles, purchase a reusable water bottle which is better for the environment and budget!
5. A tip I learned from my Aunt J is to keep a container by your sink(s), tub(s), and shower(s) to fill when you are waiting for the water to warm up.  It is a waste to let all the clean water run down the drain just to wait for warm water.  The containers of water can be used for house plants, gardens, dog and/or cat water bowls, cleaning,  and washing clothes.

Click here for a website that gives even more ideas to save water.  How do you save water?  Please share!

Remember, you have till Tuesday to enter the giveaway from Day 2. Check it out here.

Til' next time,

3 comments:

  1. You are really inspiring me!!! I am going to try and fill up Maddux's bowls with water when I am waiting for the water to warm up instead of turning it on a separate time before leaving for work!!! I love this!!!

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  2. Glad you are enjoying the ideas! When my aunt told me that tip at Christmas, I thought "How have I never thought to do that before?" Crazy! My garage sale is April 30, I would love you to stop by. There will be lots of scrap-booking,stamping things, and Pampered Chef things!

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  3. All very good ideas, Andrea - I already do several of them but will accept your challenge and try some more water conservation. Glad you shared Aunt J's water saver idea. I think it's a great one, but I always forget to do it. I'll try to start saving that way as soon as I have an empty bottle.

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