Category Archives: water

10% water use reduction: what does that mean?

Posted on May 18, 2009 by

Here in drought-reality California, we’re being told to reduce our water usage, voluntarily. I’m all for water conservation, but what does a 10% reduction look like? My household of two uses 145 gallons per day*, so 10% means 14.5 gallons … Continue reading →

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earth day: pick your battles

Posted on April 22, 2009 by

Today is Earth Day, so lots of attention is being paid to earth-friendly efforts. Fortunately, the interest in energy-saving and CO2-reducing efforts is increasing every day. But really, isn’t it Earth Day every day? Since the topic of this blog … Continue reading →

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water audit

Posted on March 17, 2009 by

Take shorter showers! That’s the big take-away for today’s Water Wise House Call. The Ssnta Clara Valley Water District offers it free as part of their water conservation program. I signed up a few weeks ago as part of my … Continue reading →

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water: how hot is too hot?

Posted on March 10, 2009 by

138ºF  water. Scalding hot. Waste-of-energy hot. Hurts-my-hands-to-wash-dishes hot. Risky-to-jump-in-the-shower hot. Sure, it’s better than the other way around–no hot water–but my guess was the water heater in my house was set too high. The recommended temp is 120 F. It’s … Continue reading →

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take back the (Brita) filter

Posted on August 8, 2008 by

San Francisco water is pretty good, but I do like it better after it goes through the Brita filter.  I carry around my own water bottle filled up from the filter when I go out.  So that’s all good.  But … Continue reading →

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Dishwasher: Energy Saving Tips

Posted on July 28, 2008 by

I found the manual to my dishwasher online at the KitchenAid site–hooray for PDFs!. This is what I learned in “Energy Saving Tips”: Use the ENERGY SAVER DRY (no heat).  Flash dry dishes.  After final rinse, unlatch door and advance … Continue reading →

Posted in energy saving, kitchen, water | 4 Comments