I've written about this before, but to me sustainability really means living with a light footprint. That includes not using more than you need, wasting resources - whether you can afford them or not.
It seems like this should be a no-brainer, but I encountered someone in the past week that left their sprinklers on while it was raining. Their response to me when I brought it up (to let them know in case they hadn't noticed) was oh well...it's just a little water.
My city doesn't have the best record for water conservation. San Antonio, on the other hand, has made some serious changes in how it operates and has reduced water consumption by 70%! What makes that number even more amazing is that while reducing the overall consumption, the city has grown drastically. In a 2011 article, the city was lauded for using
the same amount of water in 2009 that it did in 1984 — about 65 billion gallons a year — even though its population has soared 67% since then to 1.3 million...
North Texas has a major issue with mosquitoes and West Nile Virus, and much of that is due to our addiction to automatic sprinkler systems. I know that we all like to put these things on autopilot, but we leave ourselves open to diseases such as fungus when we don't take a look at the area before we water to make sure it actually needs it. This also allows us to empty any standing water so that we aren't a breeding ground for those pesky mosquitoes.
So - first requirement for sustainability: BE PRESENT. Know what systems you have and use them as a tool when you need them, not on a predetermined schedule.
Any tips or tricks you use to ensure you aren't wasting this resource? I'd love to hear about them!
I got my rain barrels yesterday, and I'm so excited about it I can hardly contain myself. This week my master gardener class was blessed to be educated by Billy Kniffen, a retired Agrilife Extension agent who specializes in rainwater usage. His entire house is run solely on rainwater, in Texas no less, and he was such a fun speaker! He gave us loads of ideas and simple activities to do in our yards and with kids, including a great idea for making a garden dripper that drips one drop per second, using less than a gallon of rainwater per day. The sound of dripping water draws birds to your garden and a 55 gallon drum of rainwater will power it for almost 2 months. Now I just need to get them hooked up. I'm looking forward to lowering my water bill!
Another subject we discussed about rainwater was building a rain garden. We all have areas in our yards that have standing water, and the solution our irrigation company used was to put in French drains and channel the water into the creek. Not necessarily the most beneficial way to handle it, although I didn't realize this at the time. It simply moves the water into stormwater catchment, but doesn't help replenish the groundwater. For that, we need it to percolate down through the soil.
A rain garden is a low area that collects water after a rain and contains plants that help the water percolate and drain. It may have an area with river rock, and then plants that can handle a feast or famine watering schedule. The soil should be loamy and have good drainage, so you can't just take an area with clay soil and expect it to drain. There's some work involved. But - which would you rather have in your yard - this:
Or this?
Side benefit - no mowing! This is now on my to-do list for this year. I'm going to get rid of some of these drains.
The more I explore this the more I realize it's a change in how we look at things. Instead of the water being an inconvenience that we need to address, it's an opportunity to add something enjoyable to our yard.
So while I haven't started washing my clothes in a galvanized tub in the back yard, and I don't have solar panels or a windmill to help generate a portion of my electricity, I think I've lightened my footprint.
'Sustainable' seems to mean different things to different people. The Websters Dictionary defines it as "of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged". So many things in our world are labeled 'sustainable' these days...I think it has become an overused greenwashing adjective.
So what does it really mean? In relation to my life, I like to think of it as an ideal. A sustainable lifestyle leaves a light footprint. So if we take a look at the things we consume, and try to reduce the amounts expended in our own personal pursuit of happiness, then that would be my definition of sustainable, or at least MORE sustainable. Since I've been told life is a journey, not a destination, I'm going to make the assumption that sustainability is a moving target, and try some things on for size.
We use water, electricity, gas, and food, and produce garbage and laundry. I've tried to reduce the laundry - my son thinks that if a piece of cloth has touched his body for a millisecond it can't possibly be worn again until it has been laundered. I find myself secretly refolding his clothes and putting them back in his drawer. He thinks I do an enormous amount of laundry because things reappear quickly for him to wear again. Score one for mom.
Rainwater harvesting is becoming a hot topic, and I found a product the other day that leads me to believe I can try this without spending an enormous amount of money. Some states have actually outlawed rainwater harvesting, legislating ownership of the water falling from the sky and assigning it to the government. The product I found is carried by Don Dubberly of Catch the Rain, and it's simple diverter. We had drainage issues on our property (areas of flooding) and ended up with enclosed gutters leading to French drains and pipes moving water from our property to the creek. Whatever idiot designed the product we have has never heard of mosquitoes. The pipes have box drains inserted at intervals in areas that flooded. Each drain has a recessed area below the pipe that retains about two inches of water, even when the pipes are dry. And we have seven of them in our yard.
The first year we had them the mosquitoes were so thick and constant I rarely went in the back yard. One day I ended up taking a screwdriver, drill and a hammer and decorating the drains with numerous holes to allow the standing water to drain. Problem solved. But back to the diverter. This is a piece of guttering that is inserted into a downspout, and attached to a rainbarrel. It diverts the water into the barrel just until the barrel is full, so that there is no overflow. This would allow me to install it into the system I already have with no disruption, so it's definitely going to happen. Soon.
Another reason to use rainbarrels: I was listening to Randy Johnson of Texas Discovery Gardens last Saturday, talking about compost tea. I've made compost tea before, but not had the best success with it. And now I know why. Apparently using tap water is not a good idea, since the chemicals in our water discourage microbial growth. Rainwater only, Randy says. So I will try it and see if I have better results.
Another tenant on the production side of sustainability is garbage. And Americans produce a lot of it. The EPA says that each American produces four lbs of garbage daily. That seems way too much to me. We recycle quite a bit (Dallas makes it so easy), and use Freecyle for things that are still in working order but that we don't want to have to sell. We also compost - leaves of course, but also our table scraps, using black soldier fly grubs. These grubs are the neatest science experiment you could ever have in your backyard, and they're also a great conversation starter. "Hey, did you know my grubs can completely consume a fish in under 24 hours?" For those who just have to see it to believe it, here you go:
Not that this is a competition to see what cool sciency stuff you can put in your back yard...but it is fun to see things being put to use rather than just going in the trash. More later.
When I think about a "sustainable" lifestyle, one of the first things that comes to mind is cleaning products. The companies that make household cleaning products would have you believe you need a special product targeted for each job...window cleaner, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, tub and tile cleaner - the list goes on and on. Who wants all those bottles under the sink? And what if you accidentally mix them? I have this vision of green chloride gas coming from the drain in my tub that I think came from a cartoon I read years ago, but the real point is that I don't want to use cleaning products that require me to read instructions before use. Or that scare me.
One of products I've become enamored with is baking soda. This stuff really is magic. We've all been brainwashed by those scrubbing bubbles on television to think that we need something "better", (read "more expensive") to clean our homes and do the amazing things that baking soda does. Here are just a few uses I've found:
Toothpaste - make a paste with water and brush gently. Or for the lazy brusher (me), just pour a bit on your brush and wet it).
Deoderant - no chemicals here! Just pat some on your underarms after a shower.
Facial Scrub - the same paste you use on your teeth goes on your face as well.
Toilet Cleaner - the original scrubbing bubbles! Use baking soda and white vinegar, then swish with a brush. Your kids will love to clean the bathroom for you!
Kitchen Scrub - fantastic for getting out tea and coffee stains from your favorite coffee mugs. I have a jar with baking soda and a little lemongrass oil that I use for the sink...makes everything sparkly and it smells wonderful!
Carpet freshener - sprinkle over your carpet and let sit for an hour, then vacuum.
I bought a box in the grocery store for 69 cents today - what have you got to lose? Think of the money you'll save and all the space you'll free up under the sink....
