While we seem to have got through the summer without any major droughts this year, it’s always a good idea to conserve water where you can. All the water that comes into your home needs to be treated, a process that uses energy and produces greenhouse gases – so conserving water is an indirect but powerful way of helping the planet, especially if everybody does their bit.
Here are a few ideas for saving water around your home:
- Wash vegetables in a bowl, not under a running tap – You can even use the leftover water for your house plants!
- Don’t use ‘half-load’ programmes on your washing machine – These don’t really save much water, it’s much more efficient to wash a full load each time.
- Keep a bottle of tapwater in the fridge – This saves you running the tap until it’s cold every time you want a drink – the wasted water can really add up.
- Shower rather than bathe – Did you know that a five-minute show uses just a third of the water of an average bath?
- Fix dripping taps – It may not look like much when you see a tap dripping, but they can waste as much as 15 litres of water a day. It’s quick and easy to replace a worn-out washer.
- Fit a water-saving device in your toilet cistern – You can often get these devices for free by contacting your water company. If you’d rather not wait, just put a standard two-litre water bottle in there, with a bit of sand or pebble as ballast.
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth – It’s old advice but it’s worth repeating – this wastes a lot of water unnecessarily!
- Use water wisely in the garden – Watering your plants while it’s cool reduces water lost to evaporation, and you can add organic matter to your soil to improve water retention.
These are just a few of the ways you can save water around the home – let us know if you have any tips of your own!
