HOME IDEAS

  • Check your toilets for leaks. (Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak that should be repaired.)
  • Put plastic bottles in your toilet tank. (Place an inch or two of pebbles or sand in a bottle and fill with water, place in your toilet tank away from operating mechanisms. You could save 10 gallons of water per day.)
  • Take shorter showers.
  • Install water-saving showerheads or flow restrictors.
  • Take baths.
  • Check all faucets, pipes, hoses and couplings for leaks inside and outside of your home. (Leaks outside the house may not seem as bad because they’re not as visible. They can be just as wasteful as leaks inside.)
  • Rinse your razor in the sink.
  • Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush.
  • Use your automatic dishwasher and washing machine only for full loads.
  • If you wash dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing.
  • Don’t let the faucet run while cleaning vegetables.
  • Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. (Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful.)
  • Don’t water gutter.
  • Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks.
  • Don’t run the hose while washing your car.
  • Tell your children not to play with the hose and sprinklers.

LANDSCAPING/YARD IDEAS

  • Water your lawn only when it needs it.
  • Deep soak your lawn.
  • Water during the cool parts of the day. (Early morning is better than dusk because it helps prevent growth of fungus.)
  • Plant drought-resistant trees and plants.
  • Put a layer of mulch around trees and plants. (Mulch slows evaporation of moisture and discourages weed growth.)