20 Ways to Conserve Water in the Home

With more and more areas struggling with droughts, conserving water is more important than ever. Even if you’re not living in a drought-stricken region, cutting back on water use also means a lower utility bill and helps conserve a precious resource.

Whether you’re ready to cut back on your showers or replace your lawn with water-wise plants, there are lots of big and small ways that you can conserve water around the home. Don’t worry if you can’t do everything on this list. Just pick a few things to start with, and do more as you can. Even a few small changes can add up to hundreds of gallons in water savings each year! Here are 20 water-saving tips to get you going…

1. Shower Bucket. Instead of letting the water pour down the drain, stick a bucket under the faucet while you wait for your shower water to heat up. You can use the water for flushing the toilet or watering your plants.

2. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Water comes out of the average faucet at 2.5 gallons per minute. Don’t let all that water go down the drain while you brush! Turn off the faucet after you wet your brush, and leave it off until it’s time to rinse.

3. Turn off the tap while washing your hands. Do you need the water to run while you’re scrubbing your hands? Save a few gallons of water and turn the faucet off after you wet your hands until you need to rinse.

4. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. This tip might not be for everyone, but the toilet is one of the most water-intensive fixtures in the house. Do you need to flush every time?

5. Fix your leaks. Whether you go DIY or hire a plumber, fixing leaky faucets can mean big water savings.

Next>> More water-saving tips

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Gabrielle Rocha

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Ray D.

6:38PM PST on Nov 7, 2011

Very helpful tips, thank you for sharing.

send a green star

Joel T.

9:32AM PDT on Nov 3, 2011

Some of these I've been doing, but now I've got some new ones to do. :)

Megan B.

10:24AM PDT on Oct 13, 2011

thanks!

Bill K.

8:40AM PDT on Oct 12, 2011

but if you really want to save water (not just in the home) go vegan (at least a few days a week if you won't all the time). total household water use in the US is only about 16%. animal agriculture is 50%. a vegan can let his or her shower run 24/7 and not waste as much water as a meat eater.

Mary R.

4:31PM PDT on Oct 11, 2011

And I thought I was justbeing weird by doing the toilet one....maybe I am but I don't care! xD

Sonny H.

6:31AM PDT on Oct 9, 2011

Tried all means to conserve water!

Penny C.

3:24PM PDT on Oct 8, 2011

thanks.