Save Some Green: Reduce Your Home Water Usage

People often get a little iffy when they hear terms like ‘suburban sustainability,’ or ‘ecological footprint.’

“I appreciate the planet and all, but I’ve got enough on my plate without having to take three-credit course on the environment in order to do the right thing.”

Sound familiar?

This blog— “Save Some Green”— aims to take all the mumbo jumbo out of the equation. Each week, I’ll present a few tips or easy to implement ideas with the dual goal of saving you money on your bills and conserving natural resources. I’ll try to leave as much science mumbo jumbo out as possible.

The first installment: three easy changes to daily habits.

Try and implement them overtime. Obviously you’re not going to reach 100 percent tomorrow, but the key is to snowball as you become more accustomed to the changes.

1. Cut back on your water usage:

The biggest culprit in most people’s water usage is their morning routine. Reduce your water usage by taking quicker showers (putting on a four minute song is one way of keeping track) and shutting the sink off while brushing your teeth and between razor strokes while shaving. In terms of appliances, only do full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine, and place a water-filled jar in the tank of your toilet (a pickle jar works well) in order to displace water. This saves that much water every time you flush, without sacrificing any cleanliness.

2. Take the caps off of your disposable plastic bottles before recycling.

Hopefully you already recycle. If not, get a bin and start. If so, make sure you remove the caps before tossing bottles in the bin.

This is for three reasons: easier sorting, the bottles not being crushed properly in recycling centers, and because the plastic is of a different variety and can contaminate other kinds when melted down. Simply remove the cap and toss it into the recycle bin separately.

3. Better yet, invest in a water bottle and a filtering water jug.

Ideally, you don’t want to use disposable bottles at all. Not only because they can end up in the garbage, but because the chemicals used to create them and the energy used to transport them are damaging to the environment. Water bottles can be found just about anywhere. You can find environmentally friendly water bottles for under $15 and water filters for under $40. This means an investment of $50 can take the place of buying water bottles for an entire year.

Check back next week for more tips.