Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Summer 2006 | Page 24

FEATURE

home sweet home
You would never throw garbage onto the street or drive an old air-polluting clunker. So, have you
ever given any thought to what your home might be doing to the environment? You might be
surprised at how easy and affordable it is to whip your home into great environmental shape.
Want to know how a bit of food colouring, a bright sunny day, and a bottle of sand could save
you hundreds of dollars and help you to help save the environment? Read on!

The sanctuary
One of the easiest places to start a home energy tune-up is in the
bathroom. And, since about 3/4 of all indoor water use is in the
bathroom, it’s also a great place to save money! Here are some
simple ways to save you over 100,000 litres of water a year!
Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. You’ll save 7–12
litres of water per minute, conservatively over 10,000 litres per
year. For a family of four, that’s almost enough water to fill a
swimming pool!
energy saving showerhead can provide a strong water flow
while reducing hot water use by up to 30% – that’s approximately
28,000 litres of water a year. And, a short shower uses only half as
much hot water as a bath.

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cut down on water waste, put an inch or two of sand or pebbles
inside each of two plastic bottles to weigh them down. Fill the
bottles with water, screw the lids on, and place them in your toilet
tank, away from the operating mechanisms. On average, you will
save 45 litres of water a day.
If you have older toilets, check them for leaks by putting a
little food colouring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the
colour begins to appear in the bowl within 30 minutes, you have a
leak that could be wasting up to 630 litres of water a day!
If you are in the market for a new toilet, purchase an “ultra low
flush” model and consider a dual flush toilet, which uses either
three litres or six litres of water, depending on what’s being flushed.