Home | List of Articles | Submit an Article | Contact Us

Water Conservation in the Kitchen

It can sometimes be difficult to visualize the importance and direct effect simple conservation efforts can have when we are bombarded with negative information regularly. Lets take a look at what a few changes in the activities around the kitchen sink can do.

Rather than running the tap when cleaning vegetables, use a bowl of water. Later, reuse it to water outdoor plants. Reusing water from rinsing out the coffeepot for outdoor plants, the compost or lawn is something we do all the time. Rich in nitrogen as well as some trace minerals, coffeepots should be diluted with water before using. Choose a different group of plants every day and you may find you no longer have to water or fertilize them very often at all.

Cooking water (pasta, steamed vegetables, boiled potatoes etc.) can be used in the same way – just let it cool first. All of these water sources contain extra nutrients that will aid your gardens immensely. Very hot cooking water can be used to kill weeds – simply pour it directly on the weed and around its roots.

After meals, scrape your dishes into the compost bucket before rinsing. While rinsing, place other soiled dishes, jars and utensils underneath while you work; it will begin the presoaking process – reducing labor and water use. Anything caught in the sink basket can be contributed to the compost, too.

Save about 5 gallons of water per washing by doing dishes in a few inches of hot soapy water. It may seem funny to do this - but by turning the hot water tap on to rinse the dishes into the sink the level will slowly increase and will maintain a hot temperature. This way, another sink full of water solely for rinsing is no longer necessary. We sometimes use rinse water to pre-soak stuck on dishes as well.

In the winter, the water from washing or soaking dishes should be left to cool. This way it releases its valuable heat into the home, rather than the sewer. Dishwashers, that are not built-in, allow reuse of the water for pre-rinsing heavily soiled dishes because they drain into the sink. The water can be trapped in the sink, or a soiled pot, where the heat is slowly released into the home, saving energy costs in the winter. Of course, the opposite applies in the summer, when extra heat is not desirable.

Very hot water is not always necessary for all washing and rinsing needs. Usually, by the time we are finished washing our hands, the water is just beginning to warm up – so really, all we have done is heat up our pipes. We can conserve water easily by turning off the tap while lathering hands. The running water is really only necessary for initial wetting, then rinsing – so running water in between is really a waste.

Now, if you measured the amount of water saved each day by those simple methods we just described - there would be dozens of gallons of pure, drinkable water left untouched in the reservoir. By reducing hot water consumption, our energy bills are a little bit smaller. All this, just from the kitchen sink!

-- Written by Dave and Lillian Brummet based on the concept of their book, Trash Talk. The book offers useful solutions for the individual to reduce waste and better manage resources. A guide for anyone concerned about their impact on the environment. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)

Related Articles:

How to Get a New Kitchen - Do you want to improve the look of your home? Have you thought of adding value to your home with a brand new kitchen? The thought of home improvements, like a new kitchen, can be lingering thoughts. Projects like these can be expensive endeavors when most of us do not have the additional funds sitting in a bank account screaming for you to spend ...

How to get your business from the kitchen table to the boardroom - Challenging Tips for Explosive Growth in Any Business or How to Get Your Business From The Kitchen Table to The Boardroom. Fact: This article will not of benefit to everyone. This article is ‘Highly targeted’. It is directed specifically to those business people who: 1. Are not satisfied with their current earnings or business ...

How to Make Cleaning a Kitchen Easy - Kitchens are the centers of our lives. We cook, converse, and even eat in our kitchens. Perhaps that is why getting motivated to clean a kitchen is 99.9% of the battle...and elbow grease is the other 0.1%. The reason for this is mostly because of all the rooms in a house, the kitchen alone has the position of having the most traffic, use, and just ...

Inexpensive Kitchen Wall Decorating Ideas - Add splash to your kitchen walls without breaking your budget with these inexpensive and unique ideas. Your walls cover a lot of space in the kitchen and you can give it a little redo on a tight budget by being a little bit creative. Whether you have a special theme in mind or just updating your look, these ideas below might be able to get you star ...

Kitchen and Bathroom Blinds - There are some important considerations when treating kitchen and bathroom windows. With the unique conditions that exist in these rooms it is important to choose blinds that suit. This article looks at some of the things to ponder when choosing bathroom and kitchen blinds. When decorating a bathroom or kitchen, most people make the error of reg ...

Kitchen Cabinets are The Soul of Your Kitchen - Kitchen cabinets reflect the heart and soul of the homeowner. The cabinets you have in your kitchen have the greatest impact on a kitchen's look. They come in many shapes and sizes as well as in a rainbow of colors. Only your imagination and your bank account limit the color and design of your cabinets. You can buy cabinets pre-made at your loca ...

For a Complete list of Articles with summaries Click Here