Water recycling

This blog, of course, is not only about gardening. That just happens to be my current pet project. This blog is about striving to live sustainably all-around in the environmentally-unsupportive environment of suburbia. In that spirit, the next few posts will be about things we have already implemented to make our household a little more "green."

The first is water recycling on a very small, low-tech scale. We felt guilty about having to let our shower run while the water warms up, even with our low flow shower head. So we had a small brainstorm and decided to tote a 5-gallon bucket into the shower with us. We direct the showerhead to fill the bucket while the water is still running cold. By the time the bucket is 3/4 full, the water is warm enough for a comfy shower.

Of course, I can't quite ignore gardening entirely in this post though. We choose to use our collected shower water in our garden to help allay the unforgiving heat and sun of the Florida summer (or any season here, really). Ben waters in the mornings, when less evaporation occurs than during the day. [Mornings are better than evenings for watering vegetable plants because the sun dries any water that ended up on the plants' leaves. Leaves left wet are extremely vulnerable to plant diseases, especially in humid climates.]

But you don't have to have a proper garden to use this method of water recycling. We also use the water on our indoor houseplants. You could also use it on your suffering lawn during the summers. Because the water is fresh and clean, you could also use it to soak dishes or wash clothes by hand. Or pour it into your pets' bowls! The possibilities for an extra five or ten gallons of clean water around your house are quite numerous, even if you have no plants at all.