Skip to main content
October 11 - October 25, 2017

Betty's actions

Create Your Own Action

Reducing my water use even further

Water is such a precious resource - how long would we manage without it? We already save water in our daily routine. Now I'm going to try to go even further by being more deliberate and paying more attention to how I use water. I'll be posting about my efforts and what I learn.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?


  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/25/2017 4:42 PM
    I just remembered that I wanted to add to the previous post that another big way that I will continue to reduce my water use is by continuing to limit what I consume. Now that the recycling situation has changed I am going to be limiting the plastics I bring into the house, hoping to be able to still have just one can of garbage a year.
    Here is a link from Grace Communications about how much water it takes to make our stuff. Reducing the stuff reduces the water we use.
    http://www.gracelinks.org/285/the-hidden-water-in-everyday-products

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/25/2017 3:23 PM
    Another EcoChallenge over already. I must say, it's a lot easier to keep up with the posting when one is retired!

    I learned from the Portland Water Bureau that the average residential water usage is 6-8 CCF (hundred cubic feet), and that there are 748 gallons per 100 CCF. I'm trying to envision how big a pond that would be. This measurement is from the EPA:One CCF is equal to 748 gallons. What does your usage mean? The average American uses around 88 gallons per day per person in the household. That means a family of four would use around 10,500gallons in a 30-day period.(Mar 24, 2017)

    When I started this challenge, I intended to check my water meter every day. Haven't done that. But I will try to check it  I do know that I will be much more conscious of my water use thanks to this experiment. I'm looking forward to next year's EcoChallenge already!
     

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/24/2017 3:23 PM
    Wow, the EcoChallenge is almost over. Two weeks has gone really fast. I am grateful for having this reason to really pay attention to my commitment to use less water day-to-day. And I really appreciate that my husband is such a good partner who cares about the Earth and the future as I do.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/21/2017 4:44 PM
     So much water is coming down outside today that it's hard to think that saving water needs any attention. But I think that it's the development of good habits and awareness that makes the difference in the long term. So even though the rain is bucketing down, I'm still conserving.

    Here are some statistics that I copied before the EcoChallenge started so I could use them for inspiration:

     The average bathtub flows about 3 to 5 gallons of water per minute. Turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth can save up to 5 gallons of water per day. One less flush of the toilet can save 4 gallons of water. If we all conserve just 1 gallon of water per day in the U.S. we could save 100 billion gallons of water per year.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/20/2017 7:52 PM
    I finally did it. I measured the water I use when I rinse dishes/food the way I usually do. Then I measured how much I used when I reduced the water flow enough to still get the job done while using less volume. As expected, it was less of course. But it was surprising how MUCH less - between 1/3 to 1/2 less water! Wow. This demonstrates to me that by simply paying attention and being in the moment when I turn on the faucet, I can definitely save yet more water (and reduce my water bill.) Nice.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/18/2017 2:51 PM
    I have begun measuring how much water I use when I rinse dishes, vegetables, etc. Tomorrow I will consciously reduce the water flow while rinsing to see how much I can save by doing that. I'll let you know.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/17/2017 4:08 PM
    When I mentioned my EcoChallenge to a friend, she reminded me of a significant and important way to reduce water use: eating less meat. She shared these statistics:   2,500 gal of water  are needed to produce one pound of beef, and while 5% of water use in the U.S. is by private homes,  55% of water use is for animal agriculture.  

    When we were growing up and even during the first 20 years of marriage, most dinners had meat as the main dish. When we started taking NWEI discussion courses in the early 90s, we learned more about the effects of meat production and about the benefits of a vegetable-based diet. We also decided to save money by eating less meat. When a meat-loving relative came to visit for a week, we had meat every night for him. What we both noticed was that we felt "heavy" from all the meat. 

    While we do still eat meat, it's about 85% less than what we used to consume. I find really tasty recipes that are yummy without any meat. Tonight we're having roasted beets and carrots with Israeli couscous, and a big green salad with pears and pecans. Not only has that enhanced our health, it has saved lots of water,

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/16/2017 11:54 AM
    We're taking advantage of this beautiful fall weather today to add some new plants to the backyard. Many years ago, because we have four BIG fir trees in our yard, and since the grass struggled to grow,  we sheet mulched our lawn to remove. That was a very good step because as you can imagine, we save a lot of water not having to tend a lawn.  According to this link at Grace Communications, i rrigating a 1,000 square foot lawn with just a half an inch of water takes about 330 gallons! http://www.gracelinks.org/240/outdoor-water-use-at-home  As I said in a previous post, how much is my share of the clean water on the planet - we use clean, potable water on lawns..... 

    Back to our planting. We have planted mostly native plants, again to save on water; natives are adapted to our climate conditions (or at least traditional climate conditions), Only about half of the plants we're putting in today are natives, but we chose them because they will actually do well in our dry shade. So we will water them primarily with water we catch when we rinse dishes, or water left from cooking, or water we catch in the shower.

    Tomorrow, I'm going to have time to measure how many gallons that water actually adds up to.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/14/2017 9:32 PM
    While I was representing Reduce Your Waste Project at the Garden Home Sustainability Fair yesterday, I spoke with a fellow from Tualatin Valley Water District. Here are a few things I learned:
    "We think of the Pacific Northwest as aplace of abundant rainfall (about 37 inches per year) and plentiful rainfall.
    And it is - for now. But as our water demands continue to grow, long-term water supply issues, and the factors that impact them, will become more important to all of us."
    That is exactly what I think about a lot - basically what is our "share" of the available clean water and how should it be used? Who gets how much? That is why I try to conserve. One thing I'm being very aware of is turning down the flow (volume) of water when I'm using it, especially for rinsing food, dishes, etc. Before the EcoChallenge is over, I will try to measure the difference so I can quantify the amount I don't use. Stay tuned.

  • Betty Shelley's avatar
    Betty Shelley 10/13/2017 2:35 PM
    Have I said that I love my buckets? Yesterday I posted that we catch water in the shower as it warms. I have started catching water in the kitchen sink, too, both when it's warming and when I'm washing dishes. This water goes outside just on the ground since it's the rainy season now. I have heard that it's better for the water to go back into the aquifer than go down the drain to a water treatment facility. For more information about a discussion course on water, go to this link https://www.nwei.org/our-watershed-self-directed-discussion-courses-on-water-inspired-by-nwei/