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On my quest to live a "greener", more sustainable life I have discovered many simple ways to conserve and even reuse water. When you hear the term water conservation most people will think of turning the faucet off while brushing teeth, shortening shower lengths and so on. There are a ton of small things you can do to conserve water around the house but I believe that the best way to save water at home is to not only conserve but to reuse it whenever possible! My absolute favorite way to reuse water is by rainwater harvesting.

Rainwater harvesting is a great way to water a garden without spending a dime! Rainwater harvesting is simply catching and storing the already present rain/ snowfall for use later. Just think of all the rain and snow that falls each year, it is free and naturally present. If you can collect and reserve this water for later use you can water you lawn or garden for FREE virtually all year! There are a number of ways to collect rain/ snow. I use a rainwater barrel that attaches to my gutter. I got my own rainwater-harvesting barrel from: http://www.rain-barrel.net/rai nwater-tank.html

Another way to reuse water is by utilizing your homes "gray water" for gardening or watering the lawn. Grey water is simply all the water that has been used in the home (except for water from toilets) and is left over. There are simple pluming changes that can be made to allow your gray water to run off into a garden or even an irrigation system. The simplest way to get gray water for other uses is from your washing machine. Just unhook the "outbound" hose and place it wherever you need to water.

Some other around the house ways to save or reduce water are:
1. Fill a 2 liter soda bottle with sand and place it in your toilet tank This will reduce the amount of water it takes to fill the toilet tank thus reducing the amount of water used when you flush.
2. Buy a water-saving showerhead or low-flow faucet.
3. Buy or make a siphon hose so that you can suck up water from the sink, bath or even the fish tank and use it for watering plants.
4. Alter the way you use water.
- Things like showering faster or turning the water off when you shampoo your hair will reduce water.
- Take a bath instead of showering and don't fill the tub all the way.
- Don't run the water while you brush your teeth or wash your face.
- Only run the dishwasher or washing machine when you have a full load.
5. Use mulch in your garden and under your trees. Mulch will keep your soils moist and will reduce the number of times you need to water.
6. Throw those fruit and vegetable wastes into a compost pile instead of the garbage disposal. Compost is great for your garden and garbage disposals use lots of water to grind and dispose of unwanted kitchen wastes.
7. Direct your downspouts or gutters to run off into your garden or trees, this will reduce the number of times your need to water.

There are a number of ways, large and small, to conserve and reuse precious water. I have only listed a few of the many ways that I think will benefit you. For more information on water conservation you can visit one of these informative sites:
http://www.wateruseitwisely.co m/
http://www.h2ouse.net/
http://www.h2ouse.net/

Learn more about this author, Talina Norris.
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