In glancing at the poll results, I’m a little surprised that only four voters have said that they wear clothes more than once before washing. But we did include that pesky “At least 5 of the above” answer, so maybe that accounts for part of it.

You know I’m curious though.

If you don’t wear your clothes more than once before washing, what are your reasons? Of course, many kids get their clothes too dirty to be recycled, so I’m mostly talking adults or older kids here.

Here’s what I do:

Not to say this system is perfect… Once I wear something, I place it in a different part of my closet so that I know it’s already been worn once. I also try to remove cat hair with a brush. If I only wore something for a couple of hours, I always wear it again before washing. (Since I work from home, I often change back into comfortable lazy clothes as soon as I get home.) In general, I wear clothes two to three times before washing.

However, if it’s stinky hot outside, the clothes get washed. If I spent a lot of time in a public place or doctor’s office, I feel compelled to wash my clothes instead of re-wearing them. I’m a germ freak in that way. I’m also a little messy, so about once or twice a week I spill food on my shirt. Not everything gets worn more than once, but I try.

Do you have a system to keep track of when it’s time to wash your clothes, or do you only wear once?

Image via MorgueFile.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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Didn’t finish that glass of water? Pour it into your window box or the flower bed outside instead of down the sink.

Drop an ice cube? Your dog or cat might like that in the water bowl, or you can place it in the bird bath.

Changing the water in the fish tank? Feed it to the plants. They’ll love the nitrogen!

The kids insist on running through the sprinklers? Have them do this early in the morning or later in the afternoon. The lawn will be able to absorb more water before it evaporates.

Need hot water from the tap? Keep the container you use for watering house plants close by the sink. When you’re letting water run to heat up, stick the watering can under the tap.

Didn’t drink the whole pot of coffee? Save it for frozen coffee drinks or popsicles. Yum.

Runny nose? Remember to throw tissues in the wastebasket, not toilet. Extra flushes waste water.

Don’t have the extra cash for mulch? Use pine needles to help plants retain water. If you don’t have a pine tree, you probably know someone who does.

Do you need to thaw some food before cooking? Don’t run hot water in the sink. Use your microwave’s defrost setting or thaw in the refrigerator overnight if possible.

Having trouble rinsing all the shampoo off your dog’s coat during baths? Fill an empty shampoo or dishwashing liquid bottle halfway with water, then add a couple tablespoons of shampoo. Shake. Squirt this on your dog instead of full-strength shampoo. It will lather very well and rinse quickly! (Don’t do this for medicated shampoos.)

Image via flickr.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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There’s still much to discuss, but since it’s July 15, let’s take a look at our posts so far.

Conserving in the Kitchen & Bath

One Small Step: Scrape Instead of Rinse

Dishwashers Use Less Water

Do you really need a water filter?

No Runny While Soapy

Easy Toilet Leak Test

Water Awareness

Water for People

What’s Important About 350?

Your Water Footprint

What’s Your Yearly Water Bill?

Reusable Water Bottle Reviews

Green Product Review: SIGG Water Bottle

Green Product Review: Klean Kanteen Water Bottle

Other Water-related Posts

Saving Water Outside

Proper Disposal of Oil

Water Water Everywhere

Green Review: Ecover Automatic Dishwasher Tablets

Please check out our water conservation poll in the sidebar if you haven’t yet.

Image via flickr.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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The American Red Cross recommends washing hands with soap for at least 15 seconds. If you wash your hands seven times a day, that’s 105 seconds of clean, wasted water added to your water bill. If you have a family of four, that’s 420 seconds of running water down the drain each day.

Some tips on turning off while scrubbing:

• Wet hands, apply soap, then use your elbow to turn off lever-style or long-handled faucets. Those are my favorite faucets for that very reason. You can easily turn them back on with your elbow again.

•If you have the type of faucet you have to turn, wet hands, then turn water off before you begin scrubbing. Yes, you may get a bit of soap on the faucet handle when you turn it back on to rinse, but you can always wipe that away with a towel.

Turning water off while you scrub may actually have another benefit besides saving water. Running water may make you rush through hand washing, and that’s not always a good thing. Scrubbing the top of your hands and between fingers is also recommended.

Do you turn off the water while scrubbing?

Image via stock.xchng

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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I learned a few things when I took my test. If I “let my yellow mellow” I’d save 10 or more gallons of water a day. And if I didn’t eat meat or dairy, I could reduce my water use by hundreds of gallons a day. It takes 1,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef!

Learn more and take your water footprint test at H20 Conserve.

Logo via H20 Conserve.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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Assuming there’s not a noticeable increase in the cost of water service in your area, paying closer attention to your water bill can be a great way to gauge your use of water.

The EPA says that with a few simple changes you can save up to $170 a year for water.

One suggestion from the EPA is to replace older toilets with WaterSense labeled models. They aren’t weird-looking. The one to the right is one of many WaterSense toilets available.

If you’re building a home or renovating, be sure to let your contractor know you want a WaterSense toilet and faucet for water savings. WaterSense products perform at least 20% more efficiently than their less-efficient cousin toilets and faucets.

There are lots of other ways to save on your water bill as well. Check back for plenty of water conservation tips this month.

Do you pay careful attention to increases in your water bill?

Image: WaterSense labeled Cimarron toilet from Kohler.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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This month, we’ll discuss water savings in the bathroom, kitchen, lawn and anyplace there’s water. Some topics include gray water, rain barrels, rock gardens, low-flow shower heads, leak checking, water bottles and more. I think we might even talk about composting toilets!

Since summer is a lazy month of trying to keep cool, we’re giving you a break from a green challenge. Yet, we want you to chime in and tell us about your water conservation efforts. You’ll have plenty of chances to do that in comments, but we also have a new poll in the sidebar: What measures do you take to conserve water?

Jennifer and I really appreciate the avid reader poll participation these last two months. It’s fun to check in on the results. As always, feel free to add your own answer if you don’t see the one that applies to you. And remember, the poll is anonymous.

Is there a special water savings issue you’d like to read about this month?

Image via flickr.

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• Water at night. Or you could water in the early morning, but usually nighttime (devoid of sun) gives you less evaporation time, which means your water goes further.
• Lose some grass: Reduce your lawn size by a decent amount when possible. Rocks, a patio, or drought resistant flowers use less water than your thirsty lawn.
• Be extra careful when positioning your sprinklers. The sidewalk doesn’t need watering.
• Mulch to prevent some evaporation – mulch holds water, sort of like a sponge.
• Use a water saving hose head and hose timer.
• Use rainwater you collect to water instead of new hose water. Seriously, anyone can collect and use rainwater. It’s really simple, and easy to use if you build a rain barrel with a decent spout.
• If you live on a hill, use a water efficient spray nozzle on your hose, and water upwards from the bottom of the hill. Lawns that tilt make it easy to have run-off water waste.
• Plant like with like – for example in the veggie and flower garden, it’s not smart planning to plant a bunch of drought resistant anything around a plant that needs more water to thrive. Plant thirsty plants together.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008

[photo via stock.xchng]

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Down the Drain encourages youth to track their water use. This project was developed by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) which is located at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Who can participate?:

The project was developed for 4th-8th grade age kids, but is honestly useful for us all. There’s no registration, and no rules about who can try this project out. It’s ongoing, free, and there’s interaction with data from kids everywhere.

How it works:

1. First there are some cool water lessons to do, these lessons are designed to help kids realize just how much water is in a gallon, thus allowing them to more accurately record water use. Kids record their personal and their household’s water use separately for one week. There are water collection data sheets available at the site for both personal and home use.
2. At the end of one week kids can compile their results and submit the data to the project website.
3. In between starting and completing this project, kids get to develop a hypothesis and make predictions. Later there are tips for kids about water shortages, saving water, and even a really neat mind boggler.

Overall, this is one of the better thought out projects I’ve seen related to kids and water use. Try Down the Drain to celebrate Earth Day, or just try it because you want to save water.

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The habit discussion isn’t that long. You can sum it up in about three words…

Use less water.

Not enough? Ok, more tips…

First off there’s the whole, which saves more water argument, showers or baths. According to the Environment Agency, “A 5-minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath. But remember that power showers can use more water than a bath in less than 5 minutes.” It’s really variable. If you have followed some of the tips for greening your shower, then a shower is the better choice. However, it’s going to vary considerably per person.

In one house I had, I did an experiment, before I installed a low-flow shower head. All I did was plug the tub and take a shower. I took a typical length shower for me (which is pretty short) and the tub still almost filled up with water. I did the experiment again after installing the new shower head and the tub did not come close to filling. So, it does depend. Also, if I try to get Cedar to take a shower, we waste a lot of water. He fusses and messes around thus making the shower take years to finish – Cedar saves more water by taking a bath.

You could also try washing your clothes at the same time; like this kid…

Just kidding! But there are other (real) habits to try:

• Only take a shower every other day (seriously, how dirty are you getting each day). I lived out of a truck one summer – on a road trip, showering only when I found a camp site with showers, or I’d jump in a river or lake, and guess what, I lived. That was with a lot of hiking involved too. Not showering won’t kill you.

• Turn off the water when you shave your legs, scrub up, or apply hair treatments.

• Shower with a friend.

• Shower with your kids. I have friends who pull this off. I can’t do it because Cedar hogs the water side of the shower, but it works for some.

• Put all the kids in the tub at once.

• You can use a timer to make sure you keep your showers under a certain time frame. I hate this option by the way – I don’t like being forced into stuff by time or clocks – but it works for some people.

• Turn the water down some to save energy. Hot water is bad for your skin anyhow. It can dry your skin out and cold water makes your hair shiny.

• If your tub is big enough, you can place a plastic bin in the tub with you as you shower (don’t trip over it!). Collect some water and use it to water house plants or outside plants.

What other water saving habits can you think of?

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