conservative

and no I am not talking about politics. I am talking about water usage. This is the only time in my life where I may extol the virtues of being conservative….

A great article from Planet Save was posted this morning that I want to make sure you all see. Click HERE.

In Los Angeles, we are in drought!!!!! It is easy to forget sometimes, with our well manicured lawns, but we do live in a desert and are very lucky that our neighbors in Colorado are sharing their supply with us. But that too is limited. Read the article and CUT BACK!!

Here are some excerpts on how you can reduce:

Bath

* 15 gallons (21 less)–Take showers instead of baths.

5-minute Shower

* 5 gallons (20 to 30 less)–Use the water to get wet and lather up, scrub with it off, and turn it on again to rinse off. Replace your shower head with an ultra low-flow version (I use one–there is no noticeable difference in shower quality at all!). Put a bucket in the shower to catch some of the water and use that water to water thirsty plants. Consider going gray.

Brushing Teeth

* .5 gallons (1.5 less)–Turn the water off while you brush.

Shaving

* 1 gallon (19 less)–Use only a bowl. I use a cup–then again, I’m not the hairiest man in the world.

Toilet

* 2 gallons (3-5 less)–Buy a low-flow model. Put a jug of water in the cistern (I use a large glass pasta sauce jar, filled with water). This reduces the amount of water lost with each flush (amount depends on the size of the container). Don’t flush every time. If it’s yellow let it mellow–if it’s brown flush it down. Finally, don’t use the toilet simply to dispose of tissues; put them in the trash.

Dishwasher

* 7 gallons (8 less)–Use the “short cycle”.

Washing Machine (front loading)

* 24 gallons (16 less)–Only run machines when they are full.

Washing Dishes by Hand

* 5 gallons (15-25 less)–Use a wash sink and a rinse sink. Also, replace the washers on dripping faucets. One drop per second wastes 27,000 gallons per year!

where do books come from?

There is a very interesting article on PlanetSave about the number of trees it takes to make all the books that are published in a year… 30 MILLION TREES!!!

You can go here to read the article.

So this is what I want to say about this. I think it is better to reuse than to recycle. Don’t get me wrong, recycle, recycle, recycle. But know that when you recycle, the whole can or the whole paper or the whole book or the whole plastic cup is not getting 100% recycled. There is waste. And, each and every day, we are consuming more and more. This means that what we make from recycling is actually less than we currently use, so more must be made to account for what we will consume. Does this make sense? I’m sure it does… you’re all smart.

Reusing, however, re-uses 100% of that item. There is no waste biproduct, there is no additional resource usage, nothing more is added to this environment. So, Re-use is always better than re-cycle.

OK. There are exceptions. Don’t re-use plastic water bottles, too many toxins. But, you don’t even have to buy the plastic water bottle in the first place… buy a SIGG. And, don’t re-use the obvious, like prophylactics, or syringes… that’s not only bad, it’s disgusting… those you should recycle. I’m in a weird area right now and think it is best to move on.

So… some great ways to reduce your footprint when it comes to books:
BookCrossing, or buy a Kindle, or the good old fashion library, which is my reading method of choice!