Tips for meal preparation:
- Wash vegetables and fruits in a bowl or basin using a vegetable brush instead of letting the water run. Use leftover water for misting plants.
- Reduce your meat consumption: food which is lower down on the food chain requires less water to produce. For instance, it takes 1000 liters to produce 1 kilogram of wheat, and 1400 liters to produce 1 kilogram of rice. Compare this to the 13000 liters it takes to produce 1 kilogram of beef!
- Steam vegetables instead of boiling them. You’ll use less water, and retain more vitamins. Use leftover cooking water for cooking soups or grains, or feed to pets or plants. Save more energy by steaming vegetables on top of cooking grains or soups.
- Chill drinking water in the fridge instead of running the faucet until the water is cold.
Tips for washing dishes:
- Kitchen sink garbage disposals require lots of water to operate properly, and can add 50% to the volume of solids in a septic tank, leading to malfunctions and maintenance problems. Start a compost pile instead of using a kitchen sink disposal.
- Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.
- With dishwasher use, choose the quick cycle option, and cut back on rinsing. Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones. Only run the dishwasher fully loaded.
- When your dish load is small, wash dishes by hand. Soak first, then quick rinse under a slow-moving stream from the faucet or place soapy dishes on a rack, and spray rinse.
- When waiting for hot water from the sink, use the cold water for plant or pet watering or to fill your drinking water bottle.
Tips for Laundry:
- Only run the washing machine fully loaded, or properly set the water level for the size of load you are using. Newer models require less water and soap than older models.
- Wash dark clothes in cold water. This not only saves water and energy - it helps your clothes keep their colors.
- Hang clothes to dry rather than using a drier. Hanging clothes inside the house adds humidity to the air – a bonus in Yukon’s dry climate!
Tips for the Bath:
- Bathe and shower less, and use less water. Once or twice a week is generally sufficient for an indoor worker. Daily bathing is damaging to the largest organ in the body – the skin - as it causes acceleration of natural oil secretions (a necessary part of healthy skin conditioning), causing the skin to deplete its self-conditioning nutrients and dry out. This makes the body seem “dirty” faster than normal. By bathing less, in a short time your skin will reduce oil production, be less stressed, become healthier, and you will not feel “dirty” so quickly.
- When soaping up, shaving or brushing teeth turn running water off. And, remember to choose environmentally friendly, bio-degradable soaps. Baking soda is a fine toothpaste alternative.
- When showering, plug the drain. Use the collected water for shaving or soaping up.
- Soapy after-bath water is perfect for regular washing of the tub, shower stall, toilet, sink, and floors. Make a regular after-bath routine and you never need to make time to clean the bathroom!
Tips for the Toilet:
- If it’s yellow let it mellow! Only flush the toilet every few times you pee. Modern toilets use 6 - 13 liters per flush, and if you have pre 1980’s model it could use as much as 20 liters!
- Put a brick or a full water bottle in your toilet tank so it doesn’t use as much water to fill up.
Long-term investments:
- Choose energy-star and water-saver appliances.
- Water heating accounts for approximately 40% of total household electrical energy consumption: increasing your water efficiency is key if you want to save energy and reduce your electrical bills.
- Consider installing an instant water heater so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up.
- Replace old-fashioned taps and shower heads with water-saver heads to reduce flow. You may also be able to slow down water flow by adjusting your water pump pressure.
- Install a low flush toilet.
- Protect water from chemicals by using only organic fertilizers, and biodegradable and phosphate free soaps for your outdoor cleaning jobs.
- Recycled household water can be a useful fertilizer and food alternative for plants if you use biodegradable soap.
When to Water:
- Water during the coolest time of the day to reduce evaporation. Don’t water when it’s windy.
- Rather than following a set watering schedule, check for soil moisture two to three inches below the surface before watering. If it's still moist two inches under the soil surface, you still have enough water. You can also use a rain gauge, or empty can, to track rainfall on your lawn.
- Water only when necessary. More plants die from over-watering than from under-watering.
How to Water:
- Water your plants deeply but less frequently to encourage deep root growth and drought tolerance.
- Aerate your lawn by removing plugs of earth evenly throughout the yard at least once a year so water can reach the roots rather than run off the surface.
- To decrease water from being wasted on sloping lawns, apply water for five minutes and then repeat two to three times allowing time for full-absorption between waterings.
- Position sprinklers so they’re not watering driveways and walkways.
Choosing Plants:
- Choose drought-tolerant plants. Perennials include butterfly weed, goldenrod, and iris. Annuals include dianthus, violas, pansies, and cosmos. Herbs include rosemary, lavender, aloe, perennial thyme, and many species of salvia. Grasses include Fairway wheatgrass and some Kentucky bluegrasses such as penstar or troy. As for shrubs, conifers generally use less water in the summer than flowering shrubs. All native plant species are good choices. Here's a listing of some drought and dry tolerant plants.
- Group plants with the same watering needs together to avoid overwatering some while under watering others.
- For plants that require more water, cover with clear plastic supported by sticks and cinched or temporarily sealed at the base to prevent moisture loss and raise humidity levels .
- If installing a lawn, select a turf mix or blend that matches your climate and site conditions.
- Reduce the amount of lawn in your yard by planting shrubs and ground covers appropriate to your site and region.
- There's a great low-maintenance lawn page on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's website.
Use Mulch:
- Spreading a layer of organic mulch over grasses and around plants retains moisture and saves water, time and money.
- Add compost mulch to soil to improve its water-holding capacity.
- Mulch beds to a depth of 2 to 3 inches to reduce evaporation.
- Leave lower branches on trees and shrubs and allow leaf litter to accumulate on the soil. This keeps the soil cooler and reduces evaporation.
Cleaning & Washing:
- Sweep driveways, sidewalks, steps, and other surfaces instead of hosing them down.
- Wash your pets outdoors in an area of your lawn that needs water.
- Don't let the hose run while washing your car.
- When the kids want to cool off, use the sprinkler in an area where your lawn needs it the most.
- When cleaning out fish tanks, give the water to your plants for a good nutrient boost.
Equipment considerations:
- Fix leaky hoses and hose connections. Outfit all hoses with automatic shutoff (pistol-style) nozzles.
- Set a kitchen timer when watering your lawn or garden to remind you when to stop. A running hose can discharge up to 10 gallons a minute.
- Hand water with a hose wherever possible. Handheld watering uses one-third less water than automatic sprinklers.
- Adjust your lawnmower to cut grass to a height of 2½ - 3 inches. Longer grass helps trap moisture and reduce the need for watering.
- Don’t install or use fountains or other water ornaments unless they recycle water or are incorporated as part of an efficient irrigation system.
- Catch rain water from your gutter system in a rain barrel to use on plants. Choose a barrel that holds about 60 gallons—and includes a child proof and bug proof lid. Most have a spigot for easy dispensing on your plants.
- To ensure that potted plants and flowers use water efficiently, consider using special patio pots that allow water to reach roots efficiently.
Long-term investments:
- Consider drip irrigation for flowers and shrubs. These systems, which can be purchased at home-improvement and garden retailers, are lengths of thin plastic tubing perforated at intervals and placed at the base of plants where the water can most efficiently penetrate to the roots.
- Change the composition of your lawn to drought-tolerant strains.
- Walkways and patios provide space that doesn't ever need to be watered. These useful "rooms" can also add value to your property.
- Install a rain sensor on your irrigation controller so your system won't run when it's raining.
Click here to calculate your household water consumption: http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/reseau/waterCalculator/login_e.html
Click here for more information about energy and water conservation from Yukon’s Energy Solutions Centre.
http://www.energy.gov.yk.ca/index.html
