Green tips for your home: reducing your water usage

Reduce your water usage

You can implement many strategies to ensure your home is greener, environmentally friendly and less toxic, both for you and for the earth. This post will talk about reducing your total energy usage for your home to ensure it is greener and healthier for you, your family and your pets (if you have any).

There are a number of ways you can save water both inside and/or outside your home, depending on whether you live in a house or an apartment, a precious resource, to help you save the planet and ultimately help you save money (which is especially pertinent if you are a home-owner).

Some useful tips on how to reduce your water usage, save energy and ultimately save you money are:

• Install a rainwater tank in your backyard (some people may need more than one). Some Governments in Australia offer rebates to consumers who install rainwater tanks, so enquire with your local Government. The rainwater tanks come in many shapes and sizes, to suit any backyard. A rainwater tank (or more) means less water usage and less water rates
• Have short showers
• Fix any leaking taps as soon as possible - they can be a great source of water wastage
• Solar or gas hot water systems produce about 50% less greenhouse gases than electric hot water systems
• Always run your washing machine when it is full
• Forget about using a dishwasher, it is much more energy efficient to use old fashioned "elbow grease" - just wash dishes by hand
• People with two kitchen sink should fill the second one with cold water and rinse washed dishes in this sink, after they have washed it in the first sink. Once the water in the sink becomes too soapy, drain it out and refill the sink with some more cold water. This is a great saver of water, instead of letting water just run while rinsing cutlery, crockery or pots and pans
• Turn taps off when brushing your teeth. Only turn the water on to rinse your mouth of the toothpaste
• Install tap flow regulators to ensure you can limit water flow to a slower flow and save water usage. Most Australian Governments offer rebates for these devices (they also offer the rebates on energy-efficient shower heads too - enquire what products have a rebate associated with them)

As you can see, there are so many ways to save the planet, which use up less energy, produce less pollution, save you more money and help your physical fitness. It's a win-win situation. So what are you waiting for?