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6 Practical water saving tips for summer

July 19, 2012 | Filed under: Dallas, TX,Lifestyle | Posted by: Earl Grey

While Dallas isn’t quite in the throes of drought we had last summer, our area lakes are still not exactly bursting at the seems and with the rest of summer looming ahead we aren’t in the clear yet. With such an abundance of cheap, clean drinking water it’s easy to take it for granted. Don’t be that person! Every little bit helps, especially if everybody does just a little bit. Here are a few quick and easy tips for every day water conservation.

Take showers. Baths waste a lot of water. Take showers instead, and don’t dilly-dally!

Water at the right time. Watering your outdoor plants in the heat of the day means a good portion of that water will evaporate and you’ll need more to keep your plants perky. Water your outdoor plants only the evening or early morning. Also, make sure your outdoor plants are situated so they get rained on when it does rain. I also like to place a plant under a hanging basket so it can drink from the runoff.

Only run a full washer. This goes for laundry and dishes.

Rinse produce in a pan. All that running water while rinsing produce is kind of a waste. Rinse them in a bowl or a pan.

Don’t flush. While low-flow toilets are ideal, you don’t always have a choice if you live in an apartment. Take advice from the Fockers: If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.

Collect it where you can. We pour out a lot of water. Whenever there are half-full cups of water lying around, I like to pour it in my houseplants instead of down the sink. If you’re really serious, you can keep a bucket by the bathtub and put it under the faucet to collect the water while you’re waiting for it to heat up. Then you can use the water for water plants or mopping floors.

These are just a few easy things to do to conserve water. For more ways, check out this list of 100 ways to reduce your water usage.