365 Days to make a difference

[Green-Moo]

I keep a whiteboard on the back of my kitchen door which i write all my errands on as I think of them. So if I know I'm going to have to go out I work out a route where I can get as much done as possible and avoid unnecessary trips. I also let my neighbours know when I'm going into town. They can either come along or I can pick things up & avoid an additional trip.

[Green-Moo]

Originally Posted by Guy

10. Another water saving tip! When shaving turn off the running tap! The same goes for brushing your teeth. Basically, if you're doing anything in the bathroom, turn off the tap until you need it!

If you must run the tap, for instance to wait for the water to warm up, then run it into a bucket so that you can use it to flush the loo or water the plants rather than waste it.

[Roguegal]

Instead of putting the water in a bucket, put it in a pan and heat it up on the stove. My dad used to do that because he said it got hotter than the water heater made it.

[tater03]

You all have some really good suggestions. I am one of those people that loves to find ideas such as the ones you mentioned. The one thing I like to do is dry my clothes out on a clothes line in the summer time.

[Green-Moo]

We have a wood heater, & I always have a pan of water sitting on the top. Then when I need hot water for tea or to boil veg, it doesn't take as much energy to get it to boiling point.

[berlinlife06]

When I wait for the hot water to come out, I put that water in a pot and then use it for cooking or making coffee or tea.

[mollyL]

All very excellent ideas that I will incorporate; I really like the idea of a white-board. I have friends that make it a policy not to flush the toilet every time it's used, to save water; I'm afraid I can't get into that; what do you think?

[Green-Moo]

Originally Posted by mollyL

All very excellent ideas that I will incorporate; I really like the idea of a white-board. I have friends that make it a policy not to flush the toilet every time it's used, to save water; I'm afraid I can't get into that; what do you think?

No-one flushes the toilet here ever Molly as we have a compost toilet.

To reduce the water usage per flush in a normal toilet you could place a brick or a water filled plastic bottle in the cistern to reduce the capacity.

[berlinlife06]

Originally Posted by mollyL

All very excellent ideas that I will incorporate; I really like the idea of a white-board. I have friends that make it a policy not to flush the toilet every time it's used, to save water; I'm afraid I can't get into that; what do you think?

They do so at my sister's house, since they have two kids. So they are allowed to flush only when doing #2. Turns out they can save a lot of money that way, but they live in Spain where the water in their area is scarce and very expensive. When I visit, I try to go after the kids, so I'm the one flushing the toilet.