Or even easier, when it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down.

Older toilets really suck with their 6 to 7 gallons of water used per flush. While filling a 20oz bottle will help you not flush down an extra 20oz with that 7 gallons, it is just about literally a drop in the bucket.

smcallah

Another good one -

To reduce the water usage of your toilette, find a small bottle (about the size of a 20oz coke bottle) that will fit inside the tank without interfering with the moving parts, fill the bottle with water and place it inside.

Now every time you flush, you will use that much less water.

se7a7n7

@ACF: Check your local recycling center? Although our city will pick up the recycling, if we haul it down to the center they will weigh it and pay. Not much, but it can add up.

On topic, we purchased a Hot Water Recirculation Pump to reduce the amount of water we use to get the shower water warm. i.e. [www.amazon.com] We are using much less water, and it was cheaper than installing a separate hot water loop.

WhatThe...

Lifehacker: great post. Keep the green tips coming!
There really is no reason not to recycle and conserve.

Does anyone know any way to be paid for recycling raw materials (e.g. paper)? I was looking for something like this the other day but couldn't find it...

ACF

@smcallah: no. thats nasty.

holymogwai

@smcallah: Yeah, that is so not happening at my house.

Nothing worse than going to use the bathroom and being assaulted with somebody else's pee-stank.

HeartBurnKid

@hearthburnkid and holymogwai no, what you do is drink plenty of water and your urine won't stink. Not flushing after urinating will conserve water and be a reminder to drink more water.

If your toilet is using 7 gpf just fill the tank with more than a 20oz bottle. A two liter will help, but if that's not enough just cram extra stuff in there so long as you don't interfere with the mechanism.

Jason

I think the best way to address this would be to look at the average home water consumption patterns, analyze the biggest areas of opportunity, then address them.

Jarick

It's amazing that in the three apartment complexes I've lived in here in Los Angeles, none of them have water as a guaged utility. So as renter, I never paid a water bill, and I also have no idea how much water I'm using (or saving). And this in a city where we rob farmers of their irrigation so that we can irrigate our sidewalks!

Posco Grubb

@WhatThe...: Does the recirculation pump cause your water heater to heat more water (i.e. use more energy) ? I'm not sure how it works, but it seems that if you use hot water recirculation, then your water heater is busy not only heating the water in its tank, but also heating the water in your hot water pipes, even when no water is flowing out of any faucet or other fixture.

Posco Grubb

I've got bigger fish to fry than a $5 / month water bill.

Like my fish-frying $100 gas bill.

sample032

@Posco Grubb: Not really. Our model came with a timer so we only have the unit set to be working during peak use hours, i.e. bath times and such. The only minor thing I don't like it that it makes the cold water tap a tad warm sometimes, but we don't usually drink tap water anyway.

WhatThe...

About dish washing - scrubbing dishes is easier if you soak it in water for awhile. The stuck on goop is easier to wipe off.

rdldr1

@rdldr1-
yeah, that's a great tip. Living here in Japan, where they have built the whole culture around conserving resources (living on an island will do that), the way to do dishes is soak them first, then scrub them and put them on a rack or something in the sink and then when the rack or whatever is full, rinse off the dishes. The idea is not to have the water running the whole time your doing the dishes, just for soaping up the sponge and the rinsing of the dishes.You save a bunch of water that way.

saketini99

Our low-flow shower head has a built in on/off switch. I have to wonder though, what happens if I leave it "off" too long?

Haha.

Myles

@se7a7n7: & @Jason: Rather than putting things in your water tank that don't belong, you can just adjust the float height so the water doesn't fill up so high. This is usually as simple as turning a threaded arm. See this link: [www.acmehowto.com]

Hoppes

I find that if I pack the dishwasher that I end up with "dirty" dishes. Better to do two lighter loads.

As for water heater. A tankless water heater is more efficient.

[www.tanklesswaterheaterguide.com]

khurtwilliams

This may be common sense to most people, but...if you have a leaky faucet, even a very slow drip, get it fixed. You'd be amazed at how much water is wasted (and how high your bill will be) with even a slow leak.

onesix18

@dishsoakers: have you looked at how much water you are using by soaking? Good dishwashers are SO efficient that you have a 1:6 consumption disadvantage against the appliance by running ANY water beyond what the dishwasher uses.

robdew

It takes a while for the hot water to travel through my pipes to my kitchen sink, so I keep an empty milk jug near by to catch the water until it gets hot. Then I use the caught water to water the plants.

jwheck