Monday, October 15, 2007

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...

11 comments:

  1. You have reminded me to put my bucket back into the shower and I didn't know about the bottle in the loo so I will do that too.
    I have my water from the washing machine drain onto the lawn and I love that.
    Thanks for the reminder.

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  2. Hi Jodie, Just to let you know I have tagged you but you don't have to do it if you don't want to of course. We are not allowed to water at all, or wash the car, there is talk of the local pool not opening as it has a leak. We got a little rubber gadget for our outpipe from the bathroom and it all goes on the garden now.(and I don't fall over the bucket in the shower) The grey water from the washing kept our garden just alive last year but I don't think it will manage again !

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  3. OMG.... Jodie what a beautiful post.
    thank you
    luv Abby

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  4. Hi Fiona,
    All you need to do is fill a 600ml, or bigger, bottle with water and drop it in the cistern. Too easy, the bigger the bottle the less water is used per flush!!

    Hi Jodie,
    Thanks for the TAG!!
    Hopefully your local pool will still open... The community still needs a cool place to retreat to in the heat of the Summer. They weren't going to open our local pool this year either due to a leak and water restrictions but thankfully the local councilers realised how important it was for the community. It's fantastic to hear how much you're contributing!! Keep up the great work...

    Hi Ab,
    I guess that I must of been inspired after reading your terrific post on water conservation.

    Jodie

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  5. Great post...my boyfriend calls me an eco-warrior because I keep on telling people to get a bucket, not buy frozen veggies, go to farmers markets etc etc. I don't think I am an eco-warrior but I definitely try to do what I can, even if it is dragging my boyfriend out of the shower cuz he takes too long ;) Recently bought veggies & herbs in pots as we don't have a garden, and the water from the bucket in the shower is used to flush the toilet. Since we're renting we can't change things for the washing machine, but thank god that everything in our apartment is water saving. Our toilet only takes 9L of water,compared to the the old 20L ones.
    Ow,and by the way..yes I did make those coasters :)

    Now off to convincing more ingnorant people to save water :)

    Mum is even thinking of us here in Aus, she's in Holland and they're having the problem of too much water. If only they could ship it to us.

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  6. Hi Jodie,

    I didn't even know it was "Blog Action Day" yesterday but I happened to be up on my soapbox about our nations sufferings due to the drought. Thanks for your comment this morning. I think a lot more city people need to spend some time and money out in the country and find out what life in real Australia is all about. It's a beautiful country and there is just so much to see, none of us need to go overseas.

    It's amazing also that you lived very near Griffith, I lived there in 1988-1989, it's where I met my DH.

    Lisa x

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  7. Hey!
    I'm so with you on this issue - we live in the city, and some people just don't care as much as people do in the country - probably as there isn't as much evidence of the drought. We use grey water on the garden and I have a bucket in my sink where I can catch the water that I use to rinse veggies, empty out half drunk glasses of water etc... every drop counts.

    Thanks for your comment on my blog. I really hope that you do get to do the Great Ocean Road as it's absolutely beautiful. I will even post photos of our trip through SA as we drove from Melb to Adelaide. I can recommend going past the Coorong too. Stay Tuned!
    cheers
    l
    x

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  8. Just saw that you and Abby are going to go to Nundle. Great news. Should be another great weekend.

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  9. hey Jodie...........blogger wasn't sending comments thru but tonight I just got one so maybe things have cleared........so exciting that you are booked for Nundle......will be in touch closer to the time......we go Fri and come Sunday....is that what you will do..........it will be a fair hike for you to get there....but worth it....if you want to break the trip you are welcome.....I had my 4th retreat this year......we go in July.....
    ...now about your post.....you would just think it could rain but the time between seems to be getting further away each time.........as we live out of town I have a dam for the garden and rain water for the house so we are always conscious of what we use as when it is gone it is gone.....the only person who puts me on water restrictions for my garden is me and I water my garden as I want to a certain level then go into water save mode......our shower/washing water waters some trees so doesn't go to waste......Abby did a great post also.......take care

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  10. Wonderful ideas on water conservation and in support of Blog Action Day! Thank you for your support of our environment.

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  11. I agree that water conservation is a major priority! i am jealous that you can hook up to town water when your rainwater runs out. Our dam is dry and our bore water is not suitable for gardens so my lawn is all dying- the plants are already dea. on a happier note- it was great to meet you last weekend. hope it is the first of many get togethers.

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