Sustainable Living Made Easy - Thoughts?

[riegerec]

Can sustainable living be easy? What do you think?

As a new homeowner, I have been faced with many conflicts in upgrading my house. While researching, I have found various small ways to improve the environment and save money. Here, I will share these with you.


Tip Number One: Fix the Pesky Leaking Faucet
Many people consider a leaky faucet a minor problem in a house. However, the amount of water being wasted is not always considered. How much water do you think is wasted each day from a leaky faucet? Most people would answer a gallon or two. Unfortunately, much more water than that is wasted. On average a small drip from a faucet wastes 20 gallons of water every day. Thats approximately four in-office water jugs. So, as soon as you notice a leaky faucet, try to fix it. This will save you money and conserve a lot of water.

Tip Number Two: Recycle Your Water
Water can be recycled in many ways and save you a lot of time and money in the process. One way to recycle your water easily is to keep a shower bucket in your bathroom. When you are letting the water heat up, place the bucket in the shower so that it collects all of the water you are not using. Then, utilize this water to shave or brush your teeth by pouring it into a closed sink. A shower puts off almost 5.5 gallons per minute on average, so you could even store it in water jugs to drink later!

Another way to recycle water is to reroute rainwater to your garden. This can be done by using a gutter extension, or corrugated tubing for gardens further from your gutter system. By rerouting this water, you will be saving time and money while watering the garden naturally.


Tip Number Three: If Youre Not Using it, Turn it Off
Going solar can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to lighting and electronics, so the easiest way to save energy is to remember to turn things off. From lights, to televisions, to chargers, something is constantly running. A few easy things to do include turning off lights that you are not using, powering down your laptops and game systems at night, setting the sleep timer on your television, and unplugging lit power cords, such as cell phone chargers, when they are not in use. Lighting is something that is so easily overlooked because it feels natural to us. However, lighting a candle or using natural light can save a lot of energy and be peaceful.

These are just three small ways that you can improve the sustainability of your home. As time goes on, larger tasks will seem more manageable and the difference will be evident. Rest assured knowing that these quick fixes, although they may not seem like much, are making a very large difference. By living sustainably the world can continue to thrive and prosper.

 

[~gd]

Can sustainable living be easy? What do you think?

As a new homeowner, I have been faced with many conflicts in upgrading my house. While researching, I have found various small ways to improve the environment and save money. Here, I will share these with you.


Tip Number One: Fix the Pesky Leaking Faucet
Many people consider a leaky faucet a minor problem in a house. However, the amount of water being wasted is not always considered. How much water do you think is wasted each day from a leaky faucet? Most people would answer a gallon or two. Unfortunately, much more water than that is wasted. On average a small drip from a faucet wastes 20 gallons of water every day. Thats approximately four in-office water jugs. So, as soon as you notice a leaky faucet, try to fix it. This will save you money and conserve a lot of water. Might save money but in my case that water is recycled to keep my garden green

Tip Number Two: Recycle Your Water
Water can be recycled in many ways and save you a lot of time and money in the process. One way to recycle your water easily is to keep a shower bucket in your bathroom. When you are letting the water heat up, place the bucket in the shower so that it collects all of the water you are not using. Then, utilize this water to shave or brush your teeth by pouring it into a closed sink. A shower puts off almost 5.5 gallons per minute on average, so you could even store it in water jugs to drink later!I don't know where you are located but in the USA a full flow shower is limited to2.5 gal/min a restricted flow head delivers 2.0 g/m so if you have a truly new home or even a new shower head it must meet the EPA standards which also covers the gal/flush. (Old 3.7 new full flush 1.6 urine flush 11) Consider an instant heat water heater.

Another way to recycle water is to reroute rainwater to your garden. This can be done by using a gutter extension, or corrugated tubing for gardens further from your gutter system. By rerouting this water, you will be saving time and money while watering the garden naturally.This is not recycle it is natural [and illegal in CO


Tip Number Three: If Youre Not Using it, Turn it Off
Going solar can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to lighting and electronics, so the easiest way to save energy is to remember to turn things off. From lights, to televisions, to chargers, something is constantly running. A few easy things to do include turning off lights that you are not using, powering down your laptops and game systems at night, setting the sleep timer on your television, and unplugging lit power cords, such as cell phone chargers, when they are not in use. Lighting is something that is so easily overlooked because it feels natural to us. However, lighting a candle or using natural light can save a lot of energy and be peaceful. I once worked in a Green Building with with motion sensors that turned off the power if it didn't sense movement There is nothing like working deep in thought on your computer and have the lights and the computer go out. Wave your hands in the air to get lights and then reboot the computer to see if you can find what you were working on. The boss didn't do anything about our complaints Co Policy so someone (~gd) taped and spray painted the sensor in his private officethat brought some changes! The Men's room had some features tooThe Urinals did not wait intil you steped away when your flow ended it dumped 1.1 gallons which often looked like you had an accident. The comodes were fun too you would get a short flush when #1 hit the water followed by a standard flush when #2 hit repeated when anything hit the water. ~gd

These are just three small ways that you can improve the sustainability of your home. As time goes on, larger tasks will seem more manageable and the difference will be evident. Rest assured knowing that these quick fixes, although they may not seem like much, are making a very large difference. By living sustainably the world can continue to thrive and prosper.

 

[Denim Deb]

GD, what you did for #3 sounds like something I would have done.

 

[Beekissed]

On average a small drip from a faucet wastes 20 gallons of water every day.

I think this one is pretty big exaggeration. I've had leaky faucets, both big drips and small drips, and there is nowhere near 20 gal. of water coming out of there. I've actually caught the drips on a continuous basis and had to empty/use those basins....never even near 20 gals of water going on there. And their number was "on average" so they are supposing that there could be even more than 20 gal. of water coming from a simple, small drip. Unless water adds up to a lot more volume in other sinks than it does in mine, this is grossly overestimated.

Good point, though, for those paying for water that all those little drips add up to water used and money lost.

 

[riegerec]

GD - I just looked at at my resource and and realized that the stats were EU for the shower. Upon looking further 2.5 is absolutely accurate, thank you for the correction!
#3 brought me a laugh, motion sensors are so complicated, my old office was like that, as well, except it was not linked to my computer. I would have done the same thing!

Beekissed - The statistic was actually for small drips to rusted faucets, I apologize! Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will definitely have to double check my resource or do a little more digging to find a more accurate statistic.

Thank you both for the corrections!

-riegerec

 

[Hinotori]

I would never use water from the shower head for brushing my teeth. I don't want that bacteria in my mouth. http://www.livescience.com/5706-study-showerheads-loaded-bacteria.html

Heck after reading that originally, instead of just removing and cleaning out sediment in my shower head once a week, I now also soak it in vinegar. I probably should use bleach water. We have a lot of iron and sediment in our water, but no lime to soak off. bleach and iron makes tougher yellow stains so I don't usually use it.

I would love to have the shower on grey water. Our washer and kitchen sink are on a grey water system. The water goes to my eucalyptus trees and keeps them alive in the summer. I'm VERY careful on what goes down the sink.

If I could figure it out, I'd have the shower water used to flush the toilet.

I'd love to have 2.5 gallons a minute coming out of my shower. I've had to fill gallon jugs in there. Max with the shower head off is a bit less than a gallon a minute. (When we eventually do a new wellhouse, we'll put in a nice big pressure tank)

 

[k15n1]

I've tried the water-bucket and that works without too much disruption. Careful, if you have toddlers.

Showering less and going without your dryer are good SS steps, too. And planning for weather and car emergencies is a good idea.

 

[Britesea]

We turn our thermostat to no higher than 65F during the day, and 50 or lower at night. You just need to wear sweaters; and I've learned that if I start to feel cold it means I've been sitting at the computer too long and it's time to get up and do something active, like housework. I also keep all the bedrooms (we're just going to sleep in them, after all) and other unused rooms closed off to keep from heating rooms that don't need it.

At one time, I wanted a tankless water heater; but I realized that the water in that tank was emergency drinking water when our well pump died.

 

[~gd]

GD - I just looked at at my resource and and realized that the stats were EU for the shower. Upon looking further 2.5 is absolutely accurate, thank you for the correction!
#3 brought me a laugh, motion sensors are so complicated, my old office was like that, as well, except it was not linked to my computer. I would have done the same thing! Well our computers were very secure, management didn't want any outsider to get access. Actually the building was secure You had to scan your key card to get in and again in more secure areas. At first they had it set up so you had to use your card to get in the bathroom but that was changed after a few accidents/illinesses. low level passwords changed every month, mid level every week and top daily. That didn't work that well since most of us would wite the password on a note pad on our desk (i used julian date which I knew but most didn't) only the top had internet acess and that is where ~gd came from, 3 fire walls on that system. After the motion sensors were made more sensitive a common desk toy swinging balls would allow me to take a fast break to the mensroom but coffee took to long. The computer safeguards were valid, everything was on that system, it was supposed to be a paperless system

Beekissed - The statistic was actually for small drips to rusted faucets, I apologize! Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will definitely have to double check my resource or do a little more digging to find a more accurate statistic.

Thank you both for the corrections!

-riegerec

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Can sustainable living be easy? What do you think?

As a new homeowner, I have been faced with many conflicts in upgrading my house. While researching, I have found various small ways to improve the environment and save money. Here, I will share these with you.


Tip Number One: Fix the Pesky Leaking Faucet
Many people consider a leaky faucet a minor problem in a house. However, the amount of water being wasted is not always considered. How much water do you think is wasted each day from a leaky faucet? Most people would answer a gallon or two. Unfortunately, much more water than that is wasted. On average a small drip from a faucet wastes 20 gallons of water every day. Thats approximately four in-office water jugs. So, as soon as you notice a leaky faucet, try to fix it. This will save you money and conserve a lot of water.

We currently have a leaking faucet in the bathtub. 50+ year old faucets that won't be replaced until our bathroom remodel. It is a slow steady drip so I keep a 5qt ice cream bucket in there. It takes 24 hours to fill the bucket. The water is then used to flush the toilet.

Tip Number Two: Recycle Your Water
Water can be recycled in many ways and save you a lot of time and money in the process. One way to recycle your water easily is to keep a shower bucket in your bathroom. When you are letting the water heat up, place the bucket in the shower so that it collects all of the water you are not using. Then, utilize this water to shave or brush your teeth by pouring it into a closed sink. A shower puts off almost 5.5 gallons per minute on average, so you could even store it in water jugs to drink later!
We save all water being drawn while waiting for hot water. This water is then used to water the animals and garden. I water the plants with leftover water from the dog's dish when giving fresh. We also choose to only shower 2-3x per week (except when doing manual labor/gardening how dirty do we actually get?); we also re-use bath towels for the week - I am blotting clean water off my clean body for pete's sake!; laundry is done once per week with everyone's laundry combined - no partial loads either. Since you can no longer purchase a washer with a suds-saver feature, I want to change the plumbing on the washer so it empties into the laundry tub instead of directly into the sewer. The water will then be caught into buckets and then returned to the washer for the next load. My mother and grandmother always reused washer water for multiple loads...again how dirty do most clothes get. My re-use would look something like this...1st use dress/work clothes, 2nd use kids' clothes, (if still fairly clean) 3rd use rags or dog beds.
Another way to recycle water is to reroute rainwater to your garden. This can be done by using a gutter extension, or corrugated tubing for gardens further from your gutter system. By rerouting this water, you will be saving time and money while watering the garden naturally.


Tip Number Three: If Youre Not Using it, Turn it Off
Going solar can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to lighting and electronics, so the easiest way to save energy is to remember to turn things off. From lights, to televisions, to chargers, something is constantly running. A few easy things to do include turning off lights that you are not using, powering down your laptops and game systems at night, setting the sleep timer on your television, and unplugging lit power cords, such as cell phone chargers, when they are not in use. Lighting is something that is so easily overlooked because it feels natural to us. However, lighting a candle or using natural light can save a lot of energy and be peaceful.

These are just three small ways that you can improve the sustainability of your home. As time goes on, larger tasks will seem more manageable and the difference will be evident. Rest assured knowing that these quick fixes, although they may not seem like much, are making a very large difference. By living sustainably the world can continue to thrive and prosper.