Saving water 2 - water conservation tips

It has been a long time since I shared some tips for conserving water, so I'll add some more that I think are quite effective. The first one is really the most amazing one, because in no way does it reduce the way we enjoy and use water, but it makes a huge difference to our "water bill". In fact one of our neighbours wanted to compare their bill with ours and we found that with 4 people in our house, we were using almost half the water they used with 3 people in their house.

Install "low flow" aerators on all your taps.

What this does is mix air in with the water so that you still feel the "pressure" you would normally, but with less water being used. At our house the following flow rates work quite well for us:

• Bathroom sinks (hand washing and tooth brushing) 1.5 GPM (Gallons per minute)
• Kitchen sink (filling pots and washing things) 2.5 GPM
• Shower head 2.5 GPM

Installation only requires a pair of plyers.

1. Look for and read any small writing on the spout of your tap, look right where the water falls out (this is in case you already have one). You are looking for a number and GPM (or LPM if you are metric)
2. Purchase an aerator for your tap
3. Cover your tap's spout with a piece of cloth to prevent the plyers from scratching, and remove the round piece on the end of your tap's spout.
4. Screw your aerator back on there to replace that piece.
5. Save water

Buy a timer for your garden hose

For $6-$14 you can purchase a mechanical hose timer (no batteries required) that will let you water your lawn for increments of 15 minutes up to 2 hours. Very handy in places where there are watering restrictions. This way you can start your watering and not need to fear wasting water, while at the same time, not needing to come back at a specific time. Most models come with an option to "bypass" the timer allowing for on/off operation like normal.

Water your yard more effectively

Water your garden and lawn in the early morning or in the evening when the sun and the day's heat is not likely to evaporate your water.

Use pinholes in bottles of water to target irrigation right to the stalks of the plants you want to water. (2Litre pop bottles and 2Litre waxed cardboard milk containers work effectively.) Fill them up and leave them unattended to supply your plants with a slow and steady amount of water that won't flood them.

Turn off your water supply to your toilets before you vacation

If you have a slow leak in your toilet, while you are on vacation, your toilet will faithfully continue filling itself which wastes lots of water. If your toilet tank cracks for some reason and starts to leak onto your floor... your toilet will faithfully continue filling itself which wastes lots of water and destroys the floor, walls and anything else that gets in the way. Do yourself a favour, if you are going away for a couple nights camping or traveling, turn off the water supply and flush your toilet (you can usually time the flush so you don't waste any water ;-) ) This small step can not only save you from wasted water, but it can protect your house against the unlikely but nasty situation where a toilet decides to convert your house into a giant aquarium.

Use a rain barrel for watering your garden.

My relatives have a giant plastic rain barrel at the side of their house which catches water from the downspouts that drain from their roof. If the barrel is full, the water diverts like normal to the downspout and out onto the lawn, otherwise, a mesh cover on top keeps the barrel clean from debris and that soft rainwater that plants love so much is available for watering on weeks when there isn't a lot of rain falling. By positioning the barrel on the side of the house that is a little higher and elevating the barrel with a platform, a hose at the bottom provides adequate pressure for flowing into drip irrigation hoses and the like.

OK, I'm all out of ideas. I'd love to hear yours. Check out the previous post linked above and if you've got something new, or comments about these methods. Let everybody know down below in the comments section.

Cheers,

Greg.

3 Options for Free Higher Education

Don't have a trust fund full of cash sitting around to send you to the finest universities?  Don't have 4 years of your life to throw at a degree?  Want be educated by top schools and experts in the field without the typical investment of time and money?  I've discovered 3 options to get you started on Free Higher Education.

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1. MITOpenCourseware

Several years ago,MIT introduced Open Courseware, which was the sharing of some MIT courses so that anyone with an Internet connection could have access to lectures exams and videos.  Scanned in notes plus lectures allowed anyone to recieve an MIT education (minus the credentials and the long lineups to get into courses you want.)  I studied a little bit of queueing theory out of my own interest in the efficiency of traffic flow.  Now I wasn't pursuing this learning seriously, so I was just "browsing" so to speak.  If someone was disciplined enough to study and do the reading and assignment they could really benefit from MITOpenCourseware

2. Personal MBA

This last year I learned about  "Personal MBA" and began pursuing this myself.  Over at http://personalmba.com/, in a nutshell the claim is; "Business schools don't have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you're serious about learning advanced business principles, the Personal MBA can help you master business without the baggage of b-school. "  Surveyed MBA program graduates sometimes share that the greatest benefit of the MBA came from the reading list and interacting with "some of the finest minds in business" through the reading list.  Check out their "Manifesto" here: http://personalmba.com/manifesto/  For those of you eager to cut to the chase, here is the link to the reading list.

3. AcademicEarth

And even more recently I have discovered http://academicearth.org/  There you can watch videos of lectures from the following universities;

• Berkeley


• Harvard


• MIT


• Princeton


• Stanford


• Yale

on the following subjects;  Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer,  Science, Economics, Engineering, English, Entrepreneurship,  History, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religion

 

I've always found it sobering that I will not live long enough to learn everything that I would like to learn, or read everything that I would like to read.  These options offer the same challenge in that there are many good things you could pursue and learn, so you must choose well and ignore the rest.  I love that these three options truly level the playing field in terms of learning.  You may not get a degree from these options, but you can certainly use these tools for accessible quality education.

Happy learning!

Greg

Carpooling puts CA$H back in your pocket

By carpooling I probably save over $1500 a year in after-tax dollars.  I think there are other advantages to carpooling that you should know about which you may not have considered.

Let me start by saying that I never thought I would carpool.  The idea was fine for other people but, I liked the convenience of being able to come and go as I pleased, even though I arrived at work and left work like clockwork.  I thought I was probably a better driver than anyone I would carpool with, so from a safety perspective I didn't want to put my life at risk.  I also didn't really want total strangers in my personal space yet worked in an office that probably had 20 people I knew driving the same commute.  So I had objections which no longer apply at this point.

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In commuting all year with 2 other people on a 1 hour commute, we have gas costs of about $10 per day and the mileage driven is roughly 100km/day.

I have discovered the following benefits when carpooling;

• Less wear and tear on my car because I drive about 15,000 kilometers less per year


• Less parking costs when we are able to use one parking spot for all 3 of us


• We have personally reduced congestion in traffic by taking 2 cars a day off the road


• Saving about $1500 a year in gas


• By removing 2 cars per day from the road we have each reduced our contribution to air pollution by 2/3rds


• By reducing our gas consumption by 2/3rds we are reducing North American dependence on imported oil and conserving existing fuel stocks


• By leaving my car at home 3 days a week, my wife can use it to run errands, and we can operate our household on 1 vehicle rather than 2 (Save $1500/year on insurance, Save $2300+ per year on the capital cost of purchasing a car + financing)


• Since I drive only 1/3rd of the time, I am less exposed to an accident in my vehicle (which would be on my insurance).


• I've become a better driver through closely observing how the other drivers drive.  Jen calculates an optimal route and sticks to the plan.  Claudiu does not sweat the small stuff in traffic and maintains his cool etc...


• I experience "debriefing" time on the way home which allows me to get work out of my system with people who will listen, before I get home which benefits my family.  Along the same lines, conversing with my co-workers outside of work improves my perspective on things that happen in the office and gives an opportunity for me to solicit input outside of formal work channels.


• Those in our carpool have benefited from increased sleep time (mornings only), video time (backseat only), cellphone, reading and crocheting time and "staring out the window" down-time.  All of these are best done while someone else is driving.


• Improved safety in traffic because there are extra sets of eyes in the car which can help spot hazards earlier.


• A team dedicated to getting me home quickly and safely who work together to scan radio and websites for traffic and routing information when traffic get congested.  (Reading websites on your phone is not recommended while driving)

Others may realize additional benefits like:

• Access to carpool lanes which may reduce commuting time, stress and gas consumption/cost.


• Reduced car insurance costs if the number of kilometers they drive and the number of days they drive qualifies them for a reduced premium.

I think this list is pretty impressive, and I never would have seen all of these benefits if I hadn't started carpooling.  In a future post I plan to address carpool etiquette, and getting a successful carpool started.  I hope you find some of these reasons compelling to start thinking about whether a carpool could benefit you in your situation.

Leave your comments below if you have any questions or if you have realized other carpooling benefits.

Cheers!
Greg.