DH and DS2 in the beautiful clear Lake Annecy in July
From as far as I can remember, I have always considered water as precious. I grew up in France, and we have always had a water meter so the general policy was always to use water sparingly. For instance, I have never ever washed my car, with the exception of the windscreen - there are a lot of insects on French roads in the summer!
Yet, I remember my mum watering the French beans growing in my grandmother's garden with the hose, every evening throughout July. And she now uses a timed watering system for shrubs that are planted beneath a long balcony, sheltered from any rainfall; but at least she never waters the lawn, which has looked like a door mat since 2003.
France, like the UK, does not suffer from water shortage on the whole, but even during my childhood I was aware of periods of severe drought, and flooding and mud slides. Since I moved to the UK, things have been a little obscured by the fact that we don't have a water meter. Truth be told, if it doesn't hit the wallet, it barely registers. (More on Ernest Callenbach's green triangle another time.)
Still, in the past few years, even before the green living bug officially bit me, I was:
- taking showers rather than baths, using with a normal shower, not a power shower; I used to keep the water as a starting point for DH's bath but I don't anymore because DS2 keeps throwing things in it, like large bath towels and soft toys (very irritating), and I worry about the children falling in and drowning... The kids share a bath;
- turning the tap on only to rinse my mouth after I brushed my teeth, so definitely not keeping the water running whilst brushing my teeth.
- DH fitted a smaller bathtub and a water-efficient toilet with dual flush when we replaced the suite in the bathroom in 2008.
- I added a brick and a bag of granules to the old-school cistern of the downstairs toilet. From United Utilities' literature, I gather this saves us one litre per flush, x 3 times a day, x 300 days, that 900 litres a year - it's not bad.
- I collect the water that's been sitting in the pipe overnight to water my long-suffering house plants - inspired by a project by electricwig, from their 'nothing is lost' collection 2004/05. A lot of this ingenious duo's projects were inspired by green ideas.
- I wash radishes and lettuce in the bowl of the salad spinner, rather than in the sink.
- We boil only one or two cups in the kettle at a time.
- I installed a clever tap adapter in the kitchen to turn the stream into a spray.
- We bought water-efficient Bosch washing machine and dishwasher. I'm a "rinser": the idea of eating washing-up liquid just doesn't do it for me, so a dishwasher made plenty of sense. (It was also a case of saving our marriage, and happily married people are supposed to be healthier than others. Perhaps I could get some funding from the NHS.)
- In hindsight, I am also glad we used a microwave steam steriliser for baby bottles and my breast pump: no chemicals, and only 200ml water needed. (But I don't know how well it compares in terms of energy consumption.)
- We also fitted a water butt next to the garage, but the gutter fell off! I'm proud to report that DH has now fixed this.
The issue I have now is not only with water usage, but also with the wasting of drinkable water.
Spurred on by my research, when I received my water statement from United Utilities in March, I actually paid a bit of attention to the literature they enclosed. This is usually immediately consigned to the paper recycling bin, to the sound of my grumbling about wasted paper. But this time, I noticed they offered a free water saving pack. You know how sometimes you are working towards an objective and things conspire in that direction (rather than against it). There is a snappy proverb about this, but it doesn't come to mind.
I ordered the water saving pack from
Save Water Save Money in April. It appears that it's not a deal reserved to United Utilities customers; lots of water companies are listed on that page, but I can only speak about the items I got.
- Save-A-Flush bag: we already have one downstairs. I am toying with the idea of fitting this one in the upstairs toilet, although it's an efficient model, to see how little water I can get away with. Having to flush several times would defeat the object. This is in addition to the Australian method (you know, if it's yellow etc.).
- Twin Tap Insert Kit: we haven't tried it yet because DH is not sure where he can fit it.
- Shower Regulator: we haven't tried it yet either.
- Toothy Timer: 2-minute hourglass to time tooth-brushing. We don't use it much because the children are little. Brushing DS2's teeth is more like Greek wrestling, I'm lucky if I can get the toothbrush in for 10 seconds, never mind 2 minutes. The crocodile cut-out is a waste of plastic in my opinion - plus crocodiles are not very pleasant animals. A lion would have been a more inspiring choice.
- 4-minute shower timer: now I love this product. I tried to use a kitchen timer before, but it didn't work, not precise enough. This timer on the other hand is great at finger-wagging in a quiet way. I confess I used to have leisurely showers, but not anymore. I am much more effective now, but I still find it impossible to get the water to the right temperature, soak my luscious locks, shampoo, exfoliate face, wash body, shave, scrub feet and rinse the lot in 4 minutes. Next step is the navy shower...
Other measures we have taken or are trying to implement:
- I try very hard to teach the children not to waste water, for instance when they wash their hands. It's very difficult with DS2 who just loves playing with water, or in the water. So I hand-wash my scarves in a plastic washing-up bowl in the garden so he can play and do something useful at the same time - but then he steps in it with his shoes on. Is it his French blood telling him to practice crushing grapes under foot?
- Is it safe to use rain water in the paddling pool?
- I have tried to use water from boiled eggs or veg to water plants, but it's very fiddly. I don't have the opportunity much as eggs generally explode and we steam vegetables in the back steamer. Can't water plant with rice water although apparently you can use it to starch your clothes when ironing. I don't iron so I have not tested this.
- The new rule is we do not rinse plates. Our local council have kindly provided us with a compost carrier, which I use for cooked leftovers that I can't put in my compost bin, and so I careful scrape every crumb into that instead of just rinsing under the tap.
- I aim to convince DH that he should use rain water to wash the car now he's fixed the water butt. But as it's far from the drive and low to ground, he would need to use buckets.
- I am interested in using grey water from the basin and bath in the bathroom, just about the drive, for the same purpose. This would only happen once we've completely switched to soap-based products that are safe for the environment.
