Sometimes it is difficult to imagine that
even the smallest changes in your home and behavior can have a great impact on
your bills. Let’s take this small example into consideration: sometimes, when
you are washing the dishes you turn to do something else and the water is still
running. The kitchen sink is where you should try to focus your attention.
Instead of letting the water run when you are cleaning your vegetables, you can
put water in a bowl and wash them there. You get the same result but with twice
as less water consumption. You can also reuse the water you washed the
vegetables in, to water the plants. Reusing the water is not a bad thing. It is
your resource and you should make the best of it. Even the water from the
coffeepot is great for the plants and you can fertilize them easily.
When you are cooking pasta, potatoes or steamed vegetables, you can let it cool
down and then use it to water the plants. This water is full of nutrients from
the boiled vegetables and it will do a great job for your garden. Also, you can
pour the hot boiling water over the weeds as it will kill them. In addition,
after you are done eating, you can scrape the food off the dishes into the
bucket and rinse them after that. You will save a lot of water doing this.
While you are rinsing, put the other soiled dishes underneath while you work.
This way, they will pre-soak with the water you are already using. You will
reduce the effort of washing and also the water consumption.
Also, if you do your dishes in a few inches of water with soap you will save
approximately 5 gallons of water. When you are rinsing the dishes the hot water
that will go in the sink will keep the temperature at a constant level. This
way you will not need to fill another sink with water.
Also, in winter time, you could let the hot water in the sink for a while. This
way, the hot water will release its heat into the atmosphere. You can also trap
that hot water in a soiled pot and let it cool down there.
Besides all this, you could use slightly warm water to wash the dishes instead
of really hot water. When you are simply washing your hands, turning on the hot
water will only waste it because by the time you finish cleaning your hands the
water will start to warm and you will only be heating the pipes a little. Try
not to let the water running when you are away from the sink because every drop
of water counts.
If you measure every drop of water you saved every day you will see that by the
end of the month you will have saved up many gallons.
In conclusion, by keeping tabs on the running water and by reducing the hot
water consumption, you can diminish your energy bills considerably.
