It's Frugal Friday!

I guess by now most of you already know we are going out of Stage I into no stage of water conservation.  However, this does not mean we should use water like there is no tomorrow.  The residents of Pine Cove have been doing an excellent job of conserving water and we would like to see that continue.  I found a frugal, water saving tip today that I never thought of before.

Many times I would save my bath or shower water for watering outside, however, in the winter, that doesn't work out so well and if you dont' have much to water outside, it seems like more of a chore than anything. So what is a good, year round way to re-use this water before it goes down the drain?  How about using your bath water to either flush your toilet or wash your clothes? Everyone has to do both of these things and neither the toilet or the washer will care if the water has been slightly used by you in the shower.

You could let the water sit in the tub after your morning shower and just scoop out what you need to flush with each time.  Or your could scoop it all out and fill up your washing machine and then do a load of laundry.  I think these are both excellent ideas as neither one requires such pristine water as what comes out of the faucet.  Especially the toilet!

I also purchased a gallon pitcher which I will use in the kitchen to save the water that runs out of my kitchen faucet while waiting for it to get hot.  With summer coming, ice tea making becomes a daily activity in my house.  While waiting for the water to get hot to do dishes, I can just fill up my pitcher and use that water to make iced tea, coffee, cook pasta or vegetables or water plants.  It is perfectly good water that is being wasted. 

Even though we are not in a conservation stage currently, it is still a good idea to conserve water because we never know when the next dry spell will hit.  Just because water is plentiful now, doesn't mean it will be plentiful down the road.  Plus the less water you use, the lower your water bill will be.  Everyone likes lower bills!