Waste Not, Want Not (If What You Want Is Gray Water)
By Christa Terry
When you’re using an eco-friendly washing up liquid, it seems a shame to let all that potentially useful gray water swirl down the drain into the municipal sewer system. It feels particularly wasteful when you live in a city or state that has passed extreme water restrictions. And if you live in a country currently facing a water crisis, saving gray water is a no-brainer. But how do you collect usable waste water without sloshing a bucket round the kitchen? Hughie of Australia has one solution in the form of a removable sink insert with carrying handles and a conveniently placed underside drain. First you wash your dishes (or clothes or what have you) in it, then you take it outside or over to your winter garden and give your plants a good dousing. At $25 AUS it’s a pretty good deal if it will fit seamlessly in your sink, though if you’re not down under, you could just find yourself a Rubbermaid dish pan with handles and tip it out as necessary.
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January 15th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I can’t help but be a skeptic about this particular way to “save the earth.” How much water/energy/co2 etc does it take to manufacture this and ship it from Australia? If you want to be green, stop buying stuff.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Well, there was a gentle suggestion of an alternate product if one did not live in Australia. But if you _really_ want to be green, move to a commune and live in a sustainable house made of straw: http://www.dancingrabbit.org/building/straw_bale.php.
January 16th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Oh no! My link didn’t work. That’s sort of like mangling the punchline to a joke. (For a clown fish, he’s not that funny.) Try this:
http://www.dancingrabbit.org/building/straw_bale.php
January 18th, 2010 at 9:48 am
@Chiken That’s why I recommend that anyone wanting to save gray water just buy a plain plastic bucket that sort of fits in the skin. Problem solved!
@marvel Interesting stuff, the straw bale house. The Beard’s uncle had a straw bale workshop. I would have thought it a tremendous fire hazard but apparently they provide three times the fire resistance of normal building materials…
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:22 am
Umm… perhaps I’m uneducated in some of the finer points of gardening, but will the plants appreciate a dousing in soapy water?
January 25th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Grey water… it’s what plants crave?