Golden Garden Tip:

Don’t waste that water!  Recycle, replenish  and nourish!

In the course of doing dishes I used to turn on the water and let it run while I rinsed dishes scrubbed pots and did general clean up.  Not any more!  Some years back I came to realize all of the water that was being sent right from the tap straight to the drain.  What a waste!  I’m embarrassed to think of how many gallons of clean water I sent back to the water treatment plant for re-processing for no reason.  Not anymore!

Now I live smarter.  I conserve water, nourish my plants, and save the water treatment plant from extra work – all at the same time.  Here’s how: Take a dish pan, large pot, empty plastic coffee container, or anything similar  and place it under the water faucet.  Capture and save the overflow water and put it to better use.   When the overflow container gets near full – pitch the water in your Earthen Garden.  Don’t forget your container gardens – they need extra water since they cannot pull water from the earth naturally.

If you are rinsing off plates, use the ‘grey’ water that comes from your overflow container.  This overflow water is perfectly good for pre-cleaning other dishes.  Got pans that need soaked for a while to loosen the stuck-on food?  Soak them with overflow water – your pots won’t mind.   After soaking – throw the water on the lawn, or in your garden.  Make sure there is not an abundance of debris in the water before throwing.  A little dish soap in the water is just fine, it won’t hurt the plants one bit!

The plants in your Earthen Garden will love you for watering them, and you will be re-cycling naturally instead of shipping the water back to the processing plant where it will take energy to re-clean the H2o to convert it back to drinking-water status.  Sure it takes more effort to carry the water outside, but it can put a smile on your plants face, and be a little step toward making the world a better place to live!