Well, I lie – it’s not really a ‘trick’. It’s just common sense.
If you are like us and have a hot water system that does not immediately heat up when you turn on the tap to take a shower, then this is for you.
It costs as little as $1 and is dead easy – anyone can do it, even apartment dwellers with balcony gardens or indoor plants.
Keep a bucket in your shower to capture the cold water before it rushes down the drain, and use it to water your plants. This is perfectly good water, and if you think about it, it’s crazy to let this run down the drain but so many of us do it in our morning zombie phase.
I have worked out it takes about 4 litres to wash down the drain before the water is warm enough to shower in.
In our household of 3, if each of us is taking 1 shower a day – 365 days of the year – that is 4,380 litres of water saved every year. Not bad for a $1 bucket I bought at Bunnings.
Now this may not be an issue if you have a grey water treatment system that diverts the water from your shower into the garden or if you have solar hot water that delivers hot water instantaneously, but for everyone else it is a simple thing we can do to reduce our impact and be more sustainable.
If you want to step it up a notch, have a bucket or small tub handy in the kitchen for washing vegetables. It seems blindingly obvious, but I can guarantee that most households are not already doing this. Why not start today?
Zacaconia Tropical Gardens 