Did you know that the kind of planter you use for your flowers, fruits and veggies can affect the amount of water required to keep your plants hydrated?  Terra cotta planters, for instance, allow the soil to “breathe” but also pull moisture out of the soil.  When potting your plants, soak porous planters in water before planting seeds or plants in them.  Water-absorbent crystals from a gardening center can also be used to reduce water loss.  Plants in terra cotta pots require watering more frequently.

Have any polystyrene packing peanuts sitting around?  You can use them in the bottom third of your pot to lighten the overall weight, but do not use these if your plants have deep roots.  This also reduces the amount of soil needed, and thus water as well.

​Sometimes people who are new to rain water collection are concerned about roof runoff, leaves and mosquito larvae collecting in the barrel.  Green Planet Rain Barrels specifically installs a screen filter in every barrel we sell to prevent this from happening.  While not necessary, you can also join your barrels together using a connection kit (we call it Daisy-chaining). Daisy-chaining two or more barrels together acts a lot like the ground does by filtering the water even further with each stage it flows through, as the silt and residue that accumulates in the first barrel does not overflow into the second.  Any accumulating in the second does not flow into the third, etc and the water keeps getting more filtered. 

​Does the thought of carrying watering cans from your rain barrel to your vegetable garden stop you from doing it?  What if you could automate your watering system?  There is a way, given a little planning this time of year.  First, if your garden isn't already established, try to  locate it near your rain water collection site.  Using a garden hose manifold attached to your rain barrel (most hardware stores sell them), you can run low pressure sprinkler hoses  from the barrel down through the rows of your garden.  The Rain Barrel always needs to be on a stand, and the higher the stand, the better that gravity helps the water run downhill.  When it rains, your plants are watered!  Don’t worry about drowning your plants – your soil can hold a lot more water than you think.

Did you know that using the permanent-press cycle on most washing machines uses an extra five gallons of water for the additional rinse?  If I just stop using the permanent-press cycle on two loads of laundry each week, I will save 520 gallons of water a year.   You can do the math when you do more than two loads a week.  Who knew conserving water could be so simple?!?!
​

I was running water in the shower the other day, letting the cold water run until it got warm enough for me.  It dawned on me that this cold water was water that could be collected and reused too.  It got me thinking about all the other times I run water to heat it up a bit: filling a pot with water at dinner time, rinsing produce, running water for washing dishes, for washing hands, etc.  It would be so easy to put a beverage container under the spout and run that cold water into it.  Refrigerate it with a few lemon slices for drinking and you’re all set for that refreshing drink.  Are there times that you run the tap to heat up water that could be collected and reused?
​
A friend of mine collects the water from his shower as it is going from cold to his warm/hot temperature and saves it for other uses around his home...cooking vegetables, watering his plants, watering his dog, flushing his toilet, etc.  He is a true steward of the land and he really saves on his water bill.

​Researchers say that the average European uses about 50 gallons of water a day.  Folks in sub-Saharan Africa use between two and five gallons of water per day.  Where are we?  Americans are consuming about 100 gallons of water a day.  One way we can lower our consumption is to think about the water we allow to go down the drain without reusing it.  For instance, when a person boils water, steams vegetables, or strains pasta, that water could be collected, cooled and used to water plants, flush toilets and more.