This is definitely a crunchy topic. See, it's not something I'd previously given a lot of thought to, but lately it's been crossing my mind more and more. Gray water....you know? The water that you flush away but not in contact with your sewage? The water from the kitchen, the bathroom sink, the bath tub, the washing machine....the water that's dirty but not....DIRTY. Added up, it becomes a LOT of water. Water that we here in the US take for granted.
But we shouldn't.
The recent draughting here in the U.S. should be a HUGE wake up sign to us that our water is not in infinite supply. We consume an excessive amount of freshwater and then spend a huge amount of energy (and money) in treating it to return it back into the water system. (though a lot of it never returns....)
I've recently watched a few documentaries on the water systems in the North American Continent and they definitely give you pause to think about just what our water is going to. (Frontline's: Poisoned Waters, Blue Gold: The Worlds Water Wars are a couple I recommend). In fact, did you know each American uses about 1 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water...a YEAR? We use more than twice the worlds average.
So what is grey water got to do with any of this? Well, there's a lot of ways you can reuse your gray water, particularly if you are a gardener or landscaper. I've looked into this possibility before, but never gave it much further thought. Now that our garden is closing up, and we had more than enough rainfall here in PA to keep it producing without much extra watering, it's not something we'll be taking to immediately. But I will definitely be investigating it more for the future, and it's something I think that the drought plagued regions West of here should definitely be considering.
Many people say we are fast approaching a water crisis in this country. I'm inclined to think that may be very likely. If this is the case, do I really want to flush down gallons and gallons of water? Yes...I LOVE my baths, but I know I need to seriously reconsider this particular love of mine. Along with many other habits that I know we all fall into.
Any thoughts?
If it's brown, flush it down.
ReplyDeleteIf it's yellow, let it mellow.
Words to live by. ;)
I don't like to waste water--just ask your mom about my dishwashing techniques.
Another good tip that is an easy start is to keep a clean, empty milk jug by the sink. When I'm running the water waiting for the hot water to reach the faucet, I run it into that jug. I use the water in the jug for watering plants, flushing the toilet, or helping to fill the washing machine.
To Elaine: That's a great idea. It's best not to use it for drinking, though, unless your plumbing is relatively new and you have very clean local water. When we lived in MA, my children had to be tested for lead poisoning due to antique (ancient, it seemed) pipes diverting water into the city where we lived. Scary. The home was new. The pipes were not. I use minimal water, but I know of folks who take 45 min. showers and think noting of watering the lawn daily to keep it green.
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