Sunday, September 18, 2016

We're in a drought!—conserve

Jay Scott Pike, known for his "Good Girl Art", created "Dolphin" for DC Comics in 1968.
If you're a native New Englander like me, you're probably not used to droughts or conserving water. New England tends to be pretty naturally ample in that regard...no crazy diversions from rivers hundreds of miles away or anything. The reservoirs just fill up. Clearly, I have not researched this.

But here we are in a drought now, and no judgements about you or your water use, but it's time to conserve as many towns are at dangerously low water levels.

Here are a few things you can do that will make a big difference:

1) Don't water your lawn or wash your car. This is an easy one for my city-dwelling friends who neither have a lawn nor own a car. But for those of you who don't, give it a rest. I still see people at the car washes. I want to picket!

2) Turn the water off while you brush your teeth. I think most people do this already, but there it is.

3) Don't use your garbage disposal. They're the worst. You take potable water, and ruin it by creating a garbage puree just so you don't have to scrape your plate into the garbage.

4) Shower European style. If you've stayed with friends or AirBnB in Europe, you know the hot water tanks don't hold much. So one rinses down, turns the water off, then lathers up, then water back on to rinse. And, quickly.

5) Shower less. You probably don't need to shower daily, or the 2-3x daily you might be showering. Read this article by TIME magazine if you don't believe me. It wasn't all that long ago that most people didn't shower daily. Try going retro.

Again, no judgements, but do what you can. Myself, I've done #s 1-3 for years, and started #4 during this drought. I'm not up to #5 yet.

Good luck!

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