HELLO BREEPS:
Last Friday, following the lowest rainfall year in the state’s 163-year history, and with the Sierra snow pack at 17 percent of normal, Gov. Jerry Brown called a drought emergency and asked California residents to cut their water use by 20 percent. So I started researching and looking at all the different ways we can help – we can all do a little bit right? Even mending that leaky tap, you’ve been putting off for months can save 1500 gallons per month.
My Top 5 Tips To Help Save Water:
1. THE GARDEN. If you have a garden, Irrigation sprinklers can waste so much water – make sure they are pointed directly at your plants, as trust me the sidewalk doesn’t need watering. If you have them set for 20 minutes in the morning – make it 10-15 mins instead – because it’s much cooler right now than it will be when high summer really kicks in – your plants don’t need that much at the moment. At our home in Hollywood we recently switched over to drip irrigation, which uses 30% less water and irrigates throughout the day – so the earth stays moist all day as apposed to drenching and drying out! It’s good for the plants too.
2. SHOWER/BATH. We all have our morning shower routine/ritual- but try switching it up. A fun game I’ve started is by playing a song and seeing if I can get in and out by the time the song ends. But no ‘Stairway to Heaven’, I’m taking a 3 1/2 minute shower – which saves around 12.5 gallons of water compared to a ten minute one, water and money literally going down the drain. You can also change your shower head to a low-flow version. Also if you take a baths don’t keep running it to keep warm – spend around 10-15 minutes soaking – dont top up with hot water – after that amount a time you start turning into a prune anyway.
3. SINK. Turning off the taps in the sink while brushing your teeth and shaving saves about 10 gallons a day.
4. LAUNDRY and DOING THE DISHES. Your washing – Don’t wash little knick-knacks – wash once your hamper is full up – this way you will do less loads of washing. Same with your dishwasher – don’t run it till its full. This will save on detergent. We also just bought a low-water washing machine that saves up to 16 gallons of water each time. One thing I found out is that you don’t need more water to make the clothes cleaner. In fact it’s the opposite – the longer the clothes have to sit in dirty water – guess what? – makes sense right?
5. GOING TO THE POTTY. Think about replacing a pre-1990 toilet with a high efficiency model and you can save close to 40 gallons DAILY. And in some cities you can get rebates for switching to hi-efficiency models. Visit http://www.wrd.org/conservation/ to see how you can save.
But one place where we need to spend as much energy as possible is supporting England at the World Cup in Brazil. The big kick-off is just days away. We have secured possibly the best viewing space in town, so come join us for a great big British get-together of World Cup screenings at Mixology 101 the super- stylish cocktail lounge at Planet Dailies in the Farmer’s Market at the corner of Fairfax and Third St. Tickets (starting at just $20) are available at worldcuphq.eventbrite.com with guaranteed reserved seating, entertainment giveaways and free drinks!
And I’ll leave you with one of my favorite sayings currently – Save Water –Spray Champagne!
Bottoms Up!
Craig
