Ideas To Conserve Water

We recently received our quarterly water/sewer bill, and while it was not any higher than usual, it still seemed to be a little pricey. I called the water authority and learned that we used about 16,000 gallons of water over the past quarter and that this is within the average for a family of four. Despite being within the average, 16,000 gallons of water over 3 months seems absurd and excessive. With the recent news of California ordering mandatory water cutbacks, I need to find a way to cut back on water usage. Here are some ideas:

- Ziggy grooms himself by licking his fur and his front paws. Why can't the kids do this?

- I'm sure that I use a lot of water shaving nearly every day, so my solution is not to shave anymore. I could have the Brett Keisel or Kurt Russell look in no time.

- Drink less water but more alcohol. (Of course, that would lead to my next post: how can I spend less money on alcohol.)

- I need to be a little less anal about how well I clean dishes, cups and silverware before they go into the dishwasher. One of the worst things in the world is running the dishwasher and seeing food still stuck on a knife when putting everything away. I have to find some type of middle ground here.

- Two words: Toilet pool

- Since I don't own a pool, I guess I'll settle with just going to the bathroom outside behind trees and bushes. Hopefully the neighbors won't mind.

- Stop using the washing machine and start washing my clothes in the river. The Potomac River isn't that far from me.

- Start taking baths instead of showers. What a nice way to end the day with a bubble bath, a glass of wine, candles a book and maybe some Kenny G music (preferably his sax solo in Katy Perry's Last Friday Night). I guess the kids can fend for themselves during my relaxing time.



While this is a good start, do you have any other suggestions?