Category — Water Conservation

Anyone who’s ever lugged home a jumbo jug of laundry soap, and then lugged the empty jug to the recycling center might be interested in trying Ecoballs. Apparently, you just toss a couple of these into your washing machine and the ionized energy between the balls creates an oxygen reaction which cleans and softens your clothes without laundry detergent or fabric softener.

In addition to reducing your household waste, reducing pollutants in the environment, and saving money by not using laundry soap, you can also save water by skipping the rinse cycle with Ecoballs. Depending on which ones you choose, Ecoballs can last from 100 to 1,000 wash cycles. Ecoballs are manufactured in the UK, and they were voted one of 10 Best Green Household Products of 2005 by The Independent, a British newspaper. According to EcoGadget, Ecoballs are also antibacterial and hypoallergenic.

If you’ve tried this green laundry detergent alternative, post a comment and tell us what you think. Ecoballs are available at EcoGadget.

Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to give this one an “A” for ingenuity in water conservation. It’s a sink that replaces your toilet lid. When the toilet is flushed, clean water from the toilet tank is routed up through the toilet lid sink for hand washing. Then the water is stored in the toilet bowl awaiting the next flush. So, the water is actually used twice.

Although this is not a replacement for your traditional bathroom sink, I think the toilet lid sink is a creative addition to any green bathroom, and a great idea for saving water at home. The sink is made of plastic, it requires no tools for installation, and it has a built-in soap dish. The sink fixture is made of chrome. On a personal note-I’d really like to see this as a stainless steel sink. I found the toilet lid sink at Real Goods for $89.

Here’s a quick fix for conserving water and power in your home: switch to a low-flow shower head. If you’re one who relishes a long, high-pressure shower, the thought of a reduced flow shower head may you a little nervous. Don’t worry! Shower heads, like almost everything else, have come a long way in the last decade. Fans of reduced flow shower heads claim that technology now allows for better showers using less water.

If your bathroom fixtures were installed prior to 1992, you could be sabotaging your green living efforts with very wasteful showers! Before 1992, some shower heads flowed at a whopping rate of 5.5 GPM (gallons per minute). These days, that number is federally regulated to no more than 2.5 GPM with 80 PSI water pressure or 2.2 GPM at 60 PSI (pounds per square Inch). If you have an old shower head, you could save more than HALF your usual shower water consumption just by switching to a newer green shower head. And, you’ll reduce energy use by easing the load on your water heater.

Want to go even greener? If you want to go lower than a 2.2 GPM shower head, try a reduced flow 1.5 GPM shower head or one that uses even less water! I found a 1.0 GPM shower head at The Natural Abode.

There is a common misconception that living green is always expensive. While some green household products do cost more than traditional products, there are many things you can do to save energy, reduce household waste, and live greener for less than $10. Here are just a few:

Install a sink water aerator: Available for just a few dollars, these household gadgets attach to your kitchen or bathroom water faucet, and will help you conserve water in your home.

Put up a clothes line: Get back to basics and line dry your clothes. For less than $10 you can buy clothes pins and the rope you need to make a brand new clothesline. Not only will you save energy by not using your clothes dryer, you’ll be surprised how fresh your clothes smell.

Make your own cleaner: You can easily mix your own homemade household cleaners with basic, low-cost ingredients such as baking soda, citrus fruits, and vinegar. Cost $3-$7.

Buy a plant: For a few bucks, a single house plant can help improve the air quality in your home.

Ditch the paper towels: Buy a package of washcloths or make your own from old clothing, and you’ll be reducing household waste and saving trees. Cost: $5-$10, and maybe nothing if you make your own.

Unplug!: Pull the plug on household electronics such as televisions and computers whenever you can. As always, this energy-saving technique is absolutely free!

Looking for an easy way to conserve water? Consider purchasing or making a rain barrel which installs under a downspout. When it rains, your rain barrel will fill quickly, giving you gallons of free water for watering your garden. Although it’s not recommended for human consumption, rain water provides softer, pure water for lawns, green gardening, and washing the car.

Make your own rain barrel: You can easily up your water conservation efforts by making your own rain barrel. Any watertight container with a lid , such as an outdoor trash can will work. Simply cut a hole in the lid, about the size of your down spout and place the container under the downspout. When you’re ready to use the collected rain water, simply remove the lid and dip out the rainwater with a bucket.

Purchase a rain barrel: If you don’t want to make your own rain barrel for saving water, you can purchase one at many garden centers for around $150. Commercial rain barrels come with a few conveniences such as pre-cut openings for inserting your downspout and open/shut valves for easily dispensing the collected rain water. The rain barrel shown above is available at Clean Air Gardening.

Whether washing your car at home or at the car wash, there’s no quicker way to undo your water conservation efforts. It’s estimated that a single car wash uses up to 140 gallons of water. If you like having a shiny set of wheels, but want to save water, you might want to check out Green Earth waterless car wash.

Designed to clean, polish, and protect your car without using any water, these green cleaning products are also environmentally friendly in other ways. It contains no dyes, is fragrance free, and VOC free. This green household product is also biodegradable. According to So Go Green, you can get 7-10 green car washes from a 16-ounce bottle, but it’s not recommended for heavily-soiled cars with caked on dirt or mud.

One of the biggest energy guzzlers in many homes is the water heater. With an average family of four, daily showers and household chores can deplete the contents of a fifty gallon water heater in no time, resulting in high utility bills. If you’re looking for a greener, more energy efficient water heater, here’s a green alternative that may work for your household. AirGenerate’s AirTap™ water heater uses mostly air and a small amount of electricity to heat the water. The unit attaches atop any standard electric or gas water heater and acts as a heat pump to pull the heat from the surrounding air, compress it, and send it into your water heater to heat the water inside. According to AirGenerate, their AirTap™ heat pump water heater uses 2.5 times less energy than standard water heaters. Along with energy efficient water heaters and other household appliances, don’t forget one of the simplest steps in conserving energy and water—taking shorter showers!

Ask a handful of parents of small children how many times they’ve found a bathroom faucet running full stream with no one in sight, and their answers will probably surprise you. With a 5 year old and a 12 year old, I’m always reminding my kids to conserve water by shutting the faucet off. Here are a few family-friendly ideas for teaching your kids about water conservation. Have a family discussion about the importance of clean water for all of us. Depending on the age of your children, this conversation will range in depth. Be sure to mention the importance of conserving water for both humans and wildlife. Let your kids brainstorm to come up with creative ways to conserve water. Suggest that they turn the water off while brushing their teeth and not fill the bathtub to the very top. Encouraging your kids to come up with their own ideas for saving water will make the process of water conservation much more meaningful to them. Allowing your kids to help in the garden or with your houseplants will also help them to understand the value of conserving water. Seeing firsthand that plants require water to live and that they will wilt without it by helping with the gardening is a good hands-on experience.