While this isn’t specifically about water, the speech made in this video is powerful and carries an important message about protecting our planet, our world.

We like to think that helping Victorians and Australains to conserve water we are doing something positive, but Severn Suzuki reminds us there is much more to be done. We thank her and share her speech with you.

Severn’s speech

Posted: December 13th, 2007 under general, nature's gift.
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Watering plants sounds pretty easy and obvious, so why would we blog about it?

Because we have seen so many people water inefficiently, we think there is a need for people to learn how to best water their gardens.

For one thing, aim any water at the soil and roots of the plants. This way the water reaches the area where it is needed and less is lost to evaporation and wind. Water under the entire plant, not just around the central stem as roots generally spread out as far (or further) than the branches.

With water restrictions limiting how often people without tanks can water, deep watering is often the practice now. But as a reminder, we’ll just say that most plants will do better with few, deep waters than frequent shallow watering. Plants in pots and vegetables may well need more frequent waters though.

Posted: December 11th, 2007 under gardening.
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Like for any burn, the first thing to do with sunburn is put it under running cold water to pull out the heat of the burn.

I hate to admit that our daughter got sunburnt last week - she was sunscreened but her top rode up as she rode her bike and foudn the spot we had missed. Instead ofputting her in a cold shower, we stood her in the middle of a garden bed and hosed her back It helped her sunburn and watered some plants - so although we technically watered the garden out of restriction times, it was better than putting her in the shower.

Posted: December 7th, 2007 under gardening, general, saving water.
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Years ago, everyone had a Hills Hoist in their backyard - usually somewhere in the middle of the yard over the lawn.

Now days, people have clothes lines of all sorts of sizes and styles, including many that are removed or folded away when not in use. But where is your line?

A clothes line over a paved area is easier to work from - no soggy grass to sink into as you hang washing - but it doesn’t make much use of any drips or humidity (the moisture in the air from water evaporating from your wet clothes). Whereas hanging clothes over a lawn or garden can create a little extra moisture for the soil and plants underneath.

Especially if you reduce the spin cycle time on your washing machine to use less power and let clothes drip a bit on the garden.

If moving the clothes line is a bit much to conserve a little water, you can hang clothes on a clothes horse and move it around different parts of the garden to help water them.

Posted: December 6th, 2007 under general, saving water.
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We Love Water.

We Thank Water.

We Respect Water.

We Are All Water.

We Are All One.

by Masaru Emoto, Messages from Water

Water is precious and essential. We respect and save water as part of our thanks.

Posted: December 4th, 2007 under general, nature's gift.
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When preparing a new garden bed, make it easier for water to reach plant roots every time they are watered or rained upon.

As you turn over the soil and mix in compst, lay out a length of slotted pipe under the soil. Slotted pipe is a sturdy but flexible pipe with small slots or holes along its length.

One end of the pipe needs to angle up and sit about 10 cm above the soil surface when the bed is finished. Each time it rains or you water the garden, water will go into the pipe.

By burying the pipe under the soil, any water in the pipe will seep into the soil around the roots of your plants. This encoruages roots to grow down which makes for stronger plants.

It also means that water is not on the hot surface which means less will eveaporate and be lost.

Of course, you can also do this in old garden beds when you are working on them but it is easiest to add the pipe when there are no plants to manoever around.

Posted: December 3rd, 2007 under collecting water, gardening.
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One of the most obvious ways of saving water is to make sure you are not loosing water through any leaks. But we often forget these little tasks and focus on bigger ones.

So, how can you check for leaks? Here are some simple tests you can use:

1. look in the bowl of your bathroom, kitchen and laundry basins/sinks first thing in the morning. If the bowl isn’t dry, there could be a tap leak.
2. place a dry sponge or tea towel in the bottom of a sink or basin. If it is still dry a hour or so later (assuming you haven’t used the sink in that time), it is unlikely that tap leaks
3. test how hard you have to turn a tap before it stops dripping. If it is hard work, get it fixed as it will only get worse - and not everyone will be careful in turning it completely off anyway
4. turn off everything in your house that is using water, then go and watch your water meter. If it is still ticking over, something is using water so find where the leak is.
5. add some food dye (just a few drops should do it) to the cistern of your toilet(s) before you go out for a few hours. If the colour is in the bowl when you get back, your toilet is leaking. (Note you will need ot start agin if someone flushes the toilet before you test it!)
6. put a dry bucket under garden taps for a while. If it remains dry, no leak - a wet bucket means leaks…
7. look at your hot water service - is there a pool of water or mud around it? Remeber that a hot water leak also wastes heating energy and costs as well as water so its well worth keeping an eye on.

So we challenge you to find any and all leaks in your house over the next week. Share how you found the leaks, too.

For the sake of comparison, record your water meter readings today and just before you fix any leaks. Then do it again a week or so later. How much water did you save by fixing those leaks?

Posted: December 1st, 2007 under challenges, general, saving water.
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