Post from the past: Reducing and reusing bath water

My daughter is still too young to take a shower by herself so we give her baths. There are a few things that I do to try to minimize the water used for her baths.

1. I plug the drain before I turn the water on and then I adjust the temperature accordingly this way no water is wasted.
2. I start with a small amount of water. My daughter loves to play in the water so I will start with a small amount and when she is done playing (and the water is cold) I add just enough hot water to warm it back up.
3. After the bath is over, I save the water and use it to water plants with. I have a watering can that I fill up with the bathwater and walk around the house watering any plants that look thirsty.

Added bonus: Walking back and forth from the bathroom to all the plants adds a few more steps to my daily pedometer count! (The small amount of soap residue that is left in the bathwater does not seem to adversely affect my plants. I have read that soapy water helps keep pests out of plants but I am not sure if that is true or not.)

A couple of other things that I do to reduce the amount of water waste are:

• The kids have a cup they use to rinse with after they brush their teeth. Instead of dumping the excess water down the sink they will pour it into the plants that are in their bathroom.
• When the plants in the kitchen area need watering I place them in the kitchen sink and anytime we rinse something we pour the rinse water into the plants.
• I keep a cup in the shower and any residual water from the shower head ends up in the cup and then I use it to water the plants.

These may not be big water saving methods but I believe that every little bit counts and overtime these little things add up….