Be Water Wise!

nospam@example.com (Christy Bell) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:19:32 -0700

As "winter" approaches here in Southern California, we're still in a rather nasty drought. Mandatory water conservation is in effect here in Vista, which mostly involves what you can and cannot do with your yard and such. However, water conservation shouldn't end there for anyone living in a highly populated area, as more and more cities struggle simply for suitable drinking water for everyone, much less irrigation water.

I'd like to share one of my preferred ways to help, since it allows me to keep alive the much-loved family rose, even with reduced sprinkling throughout the week. It also capitalizes on the fact that I have hummingbird feeders to keep clean, if I don't want hummingbirds killed off by nasty bacteria.

Rinse water.

Such a simple little thing, but something most of us take for granted. I now keep a large metal bowl in one kitchen sink, and rinse my hands, various dishes, etc into the bowl. As it fills, I dump the water from it into an easily-filled wide-mouthed pitcher, then dump the water onto the most needy of my outdoor plants and shrubs. Given how frequently I have to clean and refill hummingbird feeders during the week, this is saving many gallons of water a week.

The other one that I do is more "work", but I try to be good about it. I keep another wide-mouthed pitcher (the wide-mouth makes it easier for filling, and easier means I am more likely to be good about doing it) in the shower. When I am waiting for the shower water to suitably warm up, I fill the pitcher with the running water. Dumping this out on the plants gets the water back into environment without it having to go through the costly and time-consuming sewage treatment plants, etc. Yes, it takes extra effort on my part, lugging it from the upstairs master bathroom to the outdoors, but, again, it can be a savings of several gallons of water a week, which makes it worth it in my book!

For those wanting more water-saving tips, sites such as bewaterwise.com are fabulous resources for helpful hints and tricks. (It also gives you a visual of how badly off we are for water as the years of droughts continue in the area.)

For those wondering how I am doing on the health front, the results from the Savella are still good. Yep, I'm still in pain. Yep, I still have flareups. In both cases, however, they are definitely lessened, which makes them more bearable. I may be able to do a bit more gentle exercise and the like, which should also help in the long run.

As an example of how much it helped, my father-in-law was just here visiting for a week, and in the space of 4 days, we went to both the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Birch Aquarium. That may not seem like a lot on the sightseeing side of things, but it is more than I had been able to pull off in a few years without ending up flat on my back afterwards for a day. Yayy for progress!

Lynx's Lair - Mental Meanderings

Be Water Wise!