EIGHT WACKY WAYS WITH WATER
IT’S TIME to get serious about water saving as the drought continues its grip. It’s also time to get inventive, maybe even a little outrageous – if it helps. 1. Even having a shower wastes too much water, so try out the likes of dry bath products and dry shampoos and waterless sanitisers.
Use waterless bathing products 2. Find a bath mate if you’re going to take a bath
It can be romantic and is likely to make the Saturday Star’s sex colum- nist very happy – and perhaps lead to happy endings for you, too, if you’re lucky enough.
But hold off on the bubble and bath products. We don’t need more chemicals and toxins in our water systems.
3. Flush the toilet sparingly
A cistern takes 7-9 litres of water to fill. This means, if you visit the toilet four times a day, you use on average 36 litres of clean, drinkable water in the toilet. So lift the handle before all the water runs out.
Or follow the rule you learnt as a child: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down”. It may be a little stinky, but these are desperate times.
4. Grey water for your garden
Luckily for us, plants can handle a little bit of water that’s “gently used” so water you’ve used to rinse your rice or vegetables in for cleaning can be used in your garden. Plants are okay with a bit of dirt. Alternatively, consider things like astro-turf or indigenous plants and succulents that need very little water.
5. Dude, don’t wash your car again and again
It’s okay, you don’t need to wash your car so many times a week; no one’s going to notice. Refrain from using your hosepipe to do it – it’s illegal and you can be fined. Using a bucket will do.
6. Wash your laundry in larger loads
On laundry day, sort your clothes according to colour and texture of the fabrics.
Once that’s done, fill your machine up as much as possible. Just don’t break it by overloading. And where you can, re-wear your clothes, your jeans can last a couple of days.
Don’t wash items of clothing at the slightest provocation. But please do wash your clothes – you don’t want to pong out your friends and colleagues.
7. Don’t leave the tap running
Be careful with water when you’re brushing your teeth or rinsing vegetables or dishes. Every drop really does count.
8. Drink champagne. Save water
Just kidding. Or not. But because we are in the middle of some freakishly high temperatures, make sure you drink as much water as your body asks for.
Always fill up your bottle and try to finish it. If you don’t, you can use it to water your plants.