Blog Action Day

(as copied from here) Today, October 15th, bloggers around the web have united to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger is posting about the environment in their own way and relating it to their own topic. The aim of this is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

I'm going to focus on water conservation.......

I live in a part of the country that is in the middle of one of, if not the, worst drought's in it's recorded history (150 years)... I try hard everyday to conserve water. I know that there is so much more that I could & should be doing but at least I'm doing something as so many people out there still aren't doing anything at all!!!

I recycle all of my washing water & use it to water, what is left of, my lawn. I also use this water on my vegie patch even though it isn't recommended to do so, I'm yet to be shown why... I know that the vegie's that you buy at the local supermarket take a lot more water to produce then the humble home grow variety, so by growing my own vegies I'm saving water in more ways then one. I put a big bucket in the shower with me & 1 in the kitchen sink while I wait for the hot water to warm up. This is then used to water my herb garden & the plants I have in pots.

I have 2x20,000litre rain water tanks fully plumbed up to my house to catch what ever rain I can, not that it ever rains anymore but just in case it does at least I'm prepared. When it does rain I just turn off my town water & the rain water will service my whole house, washing machine, toilet, shower & kitchen.

Our town is currently on Level 5 water restrictions which means limited watering times by bucket only. This is absolutely disgusting for this time of year, spring, when everything is supposed to be lovely & green. What can you expect though when we haven't had any kind of decent rain since God only knows when.

As I drive through the central west I too can feel the heart break & devastation that the local farmers must be feeling. My husband coming from a farming back ground is also devastated at what he sees... The paddocks are dry & what crops have been sown have that little moisture in them that they have turned purple, I don't even think that any of it will be harvested. Canola crops that would normally stand 4ft high are barely 3' off the ground.

There isn't much that I can do to help the poor farmers that are suffering from this horrible drought except to not take what water I do have for granted. There are so many ways that everyone can help to conserve what little water we do have such as using a hose with a trigger sprayer on it to control water flow, putting a bucket in your shower, growing your own veg, putting a 600ml bottle of water in your cistern to reduce the amount of water in your toilets flush, and so so much more...

I hope that this post inspires at least 1 more person out there to be a bit more water wise. Even if it's something as little as putting a bucket in the shower. If you only catch 10Litres and used it to water some plants or flush the toilet that's 10L that you saved, every little bit counts!!!

Check out my sisters blog she too has joined this very worthy cause, actually she's the one who told me all about it...