July 30th, 2008 at 03:20pm
Under Summer
50 Ways To Conserve Water At Home
With many areas of the country in drought conditions, all of us could use a reminder list of ways to cut back on our water consumption around the house.
You can go three weeks without food, but only three days without W.A.T.E.R.:
Waste: “Tighten plumbing leaks and prevent other needless losses of water.
Application: Where do you use water that you shouldn’t?
Teaching: It’s good you’re following these suggestions, but what about others? Pass these along.
Economy: Where do you need to use water that you could use less?
Reclamation: Where can you get extra water?
1. Fire Safety. Summer brings heat, dryness, and wildfires and winter sees increased house fires from additional heating sources. Since a fire would need hundreds or thousands of gallons of water to fight, any fire prevention steps are water saving steps.
2. Brick in the toilet. A brick in the toilet tank takes up space to replace water. If a brick uses half a quart of space, you save half a quart per flush. Hint: Since bricks can dissolve, paint it with basement water sealant.
3. Color coded conservation. You don’t always have to flush your toilet every time. To borrow an old adage, “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.”
4. Buy a low-flow toilet. Though an expensive option, it’s easy to incorporate into your lifestyle, and some communities offer homeowners rebates for installing these water-savers.
5. Rain barrels. Rain barrels save rain water. While you can’t immediately drink this water, you can use it in food gardens, for outside washing, and you can purify it for bathing. Also, buy storage barrels to keep in the garage, and use them to store water saved by methods listed in this article. Mark the barrel as to whether the water is drinkable.
6. AC condensation. If you have central heat and air, you have a drain line that carries away the condensation that collects from your air conditioner coils. If yours is not connected to sewage lines you can collect and use this water. DO NOT DRINK THIS WATER! It can be used to water your garden, outside washing, or watering the house plants. You can collect up to two quarts per day during humid weather.
7. Squeeze-handle shower head. You can buy shower setups that have the squeeze-lever-activated head on a hose. This will let you wet down, lather up, and then rinse off without leaving the shower running. If you don’t like the squeeze-handle variety, you can find low-flow shower heads.
8. Faucet restrictors. Like the low-flow shower head, you can also find low-flow faucet restrictors.
9. Liquid soap. For hand washing, nothing saves water like liquid soap since it lathers more quickly than bar soap. Squirt a small dollop of liquid soap, give a quick burst from the faucet, lather, and turn the faucet back on briefly to rinse.
10. Spray bottles. Keep a small spray bottle of water by the sink. When washing your hands (with liquid soap), or wetting your toothbrush, all you need is a quick spritz from the bottle instead of using the faucet.
11. Plastic gloves. Plastic foodservice gloves come 100 to a box for just a couple of dollars. If there’s anything you’d do that would make you wash your hands before, during, or afterwards (like painting, etc.), then wearing gloves will save a hand washing.
12. Paper plates. During a drought; water takes temporary precedence over other resources. Using paper plates saves dishwashing water. Paper towels will also help by cutting down on the number of cloth towels you have to wash.
13. Keep a jug by the sink. Keep an empty water jug by the sink to catch and save cold water coming from the tap while you’re waiting for the hot water. If you collect a lot of water this way, put it in your storage barrels.
14. Consolidate heavy work. Do you do things at different times of day that make you sweaty? Consolidate these efforts. If you work out and also work in the yard, try to work out and then immediately do your yard work. Stay sweaty, take just one shower, and wear just one set of clothes.
15. Waterless car wash. Several companies produce “waterless carwash” products that let you spray them on and wipe them off leaving your car spotless without the use of water. (For one that benefits schools, see http://www.beatthedirt.com or call them at 601-503-8300.)
16. Disposable paint brushes. If you have to paint, try to use zero water. Wear your plastic gloves and use brushes you can just throw away.
17. No lawn watering. However, if you collected the rain water or AC condensation earlier, you might use a watering can to cure brown spots, or water shrubs or trees that might die.
18. Check faucet washers. However, know what you’re doing before tackling the repairs yourself since a plumbing accident could spew more water than your faucet drip.
19. Full dish washer. Letting the dishes pile up in the sink is okay if you’re waiting for a full load for the dishwasher.
20. Full clothes washer. Full loads of laundry are best as they’re more water-efficient. And if you have just one or two items to wash? Hand wash them in the sink.
21. Hand wash over dishes. If you’re letting dishes pile up and some need some presoaking, use the kitchen sink for hand washing. Let the soapy water accumulate and pull double duty by pre-cleaning your dishware.
22. Dig a well. If you live in an area where you can have a well, please dig one. Though pricey, it will give you an alternate source of water and will help conserve city water.
23. Dixie cups. These tiny cups can let you see how much (or little) water you need for things like rinsing after brushing your teeth. And since they’re disposable, you don’t have to wash.
24. Pass this list to a friend. It’s good that you’re reading this list. Passing it along to others helps them conserve too. With conservation, it really is “the more the merrier.”
25. No new aquariums. If the kids come home wanting anything more than a fishbowl for a new aquatic pet, do what you can to talk them out of it. Unless of course, you fill it and maintain it with rainwater.
26. Nuke your water. For some hot water needs it’s thriftier to fill a cup with cold water and zap it in the microwave, rather than let the water run until the hot water shows.
27. Shave from a cup. One use for your cup of hot water is shaving. Rather than let the water run during a shave, just rinse your razor in the cup. Better yet, if possible, use an electric razor.
28. Skip a shower. If you’re not dirty and you’re not going to do anything but hang around the house, especially if by yourself, why take a shower?
29. Let the kids skip a bath. If you want to be a hero to your children, provided they’re really not dirty and don’t need it, let them skip every other day’s bath or shower.
30. Baking soda for Fido. Your dog’s baths can be a little farther apart too, if you give them a dry rubdown with baking soda. Rub it in their fur and then brush it out thoroughly. They’ll smell lots better, and be happy they skipped a soaking.
31. Nuke a washcloth. Wet a washcloth with a quick blast from the faucet, add liquid soap, and zap it in the microwave for a few seconds. You could wash your face and hands, and probably take half a bath. Wet another washcloth and microwave it a few seconds for a quick rinse cloth.
32. Paper towel dry-off. After your sponge bath with your microwaved washcloths, dry off with paper towels.
33. Kiddie pools. If you’re lacking rain barrels and want to catch a few drops, get some rigid plastic “kiddie pools.” They’re inexpensive and will hold gallons of rain runoff from your gutter downspouts.
34. Solar showers. Have a private back yard? Like being outdoors? You can get “solar showers” at almost any camping supply store. Use your collected rain water for that occasional warm-weather outdoor shower.
35. No swimming pool. You save lots of water by not filling your pool. But how could you use existing pool water? The chlorine will evaporate in a few weeks if not maintained, but not enough to drink the water. Use the water for outdoor washing, outdoor showers, flushing your toilet, or as a firefighting water reservoir if your home is in a wildfire area. (See http://www.disasterprep101.com/wildfire.htm )
36. Check your meter. Check for leaks at your water meter. If yours is leaking, notify your local water authority.
37. Check for a leaky toilet. Put a few drops of food coloring into your toilet tank’s water. If you see the colored water in the bowl after a few minutes you have a leak and might need a new tank valve.
38. Tie up a tarp. If you’re really serious about collecting rain water, tie a few tarps in place to where they drain into your kiddie pool or other collection point.
39. Frozen water bottles. Keep plastic bottles of water (about 4/5 full) in your freezer. When using your cooler, use a few frozen bottles of water to keep food cold.
40. Water at restaurants. If you don’t plan to drink it, don’t let the waiter leave you a glass of water at the table.
41. Dishes: wipe vs. rinse. If the dishes are too dirty to stick straight in the dishwasher, wipe them off with newspaper rather than rinsing them. You save water and get double-duty from your newspaper.
42. Let Fido lick the bowl. If you have a dog, let Fido cleanyour dishes before they’re put in the dishwasher. (Don’t give Fido too much, or anything bad for a dog.)
43. Aluminum foil. When cooking at home, line your pots and pans with aluminum foil. When you’re done cooking, remove the foil to make cleanup easier.
44. Buying your water. If you buy your drinking water, go for the gallons of distilled water rather than the smaller bottles of mineral water. The distilled is a better value and is actually more pure than the “designer waters.”
45. Bug sprayers. Your lawn and garden store will have 2-gallon pump-up sprayers. These will help you use your collected rain water or pool water for washing (and even fighting small fires).
46. “Go Jo.” Go Jo is a waterless hand soap that mechanics use. It’s rather effective on dirty hands and can be used without water. Similarly, use the little bottles of clear hand sanitizer.
47. In-line water heater. In-line water heaters can be installed closer to the faucets or tubs they’re to heat, and use less energy. If you get one don’t do away with your old water heater (even if you cut off the gas or electric to it) since it’s a great backup reservoir in water shortage scenarios.
48. No mopping. Most households now have a “Swiffer” or comparable cleaning aid intended to replace old-fashioned mops. If you haven’t made the switch, doing so will save a few gallons of water per year.
49. Skip a laundry load. Once in a while, some clothing really doesn’t need to be washed. In mild weather, outer shirts that were only worn briefly might need just a “fluff in the dryer” or another ironing to be perfectly ready to wear. Bachelors have known this secret for years.
50. General safety. We started this article with fire safety and we’ll close with general safety. Each time you prevent a trip to the hospital, you prevent the extra water that would be used during your visit.
Water is like money. Learn to save it well and spend it wisely.
Paul Purcell is an Atlanta-based security analyst and preparedness consultant with over 20 years risk management experience. He’s also the author of “Disaster Prep 101″ at http://www.disasterprep101.com, and a partner / advisor with 1-800-PREPARE. © 2007 Paul Purcell.
By Conference Herald
July 26th, 2008 at 07:33am
Under Summer
Fish Tank Cleaning Supplies You May Need
Have you recently purchased yourself a new fish tank? If so, there will come a time when you will need to clean your fish tank. When that time comes, and there is no doubt that it will, do you know how you can go about properly cleaning your fish tank? If not, you are urged to familiarize yourself with common fish tank cleaning supplies, many of which you may find helpful.
When it comes to familiarizing yourself with fish tank cleaning supplies, there are a number of important factors that you will want to take into consideration. Two of those factors are extremely important. First, you will want to make sure that you examine the type of fish tank that you have. Secondly, you will want to make sure that you examine the type of fish that you have; for instance, do you have saltwater fish, tropical fish, or freshwater fish? While there are a number of universal cleaning supplies that can be used, for all different fish tanks, you will want to verify before using any particular cleaning product or piece of equipment, as you do not want to jeopardize your fish tank and its contents.
Although there are some instances where you may need certain fish tank cleaning products or equipment, there are many cleaning supplies that are sometimes considered universal. One of those products is floating magnets. Floating magnets are known as a safe, convenient, and easy way to remove fish tank debris, like algae, from the walls of your fish tank. While floating magnets can be used on a wide variety of different fish tanks, you are urged to keep the type of fish tank that you have in mind. When it comes to buying floating fish tank magnets, you will see that there are magnets which are designed solely for glass fish tanks and others that are designed solely for acrylic fish tanks.
Scrapers are another piece of cleaning equipment that you may need to purchase or want to think about purchasing. Scrapers, like floating magnets, are used to remove algae from the sides of a fish tank. Scrapers can get the hard to reach algae or the algae that didn’t make its way to the magnets. For larger fish tanks, you should be able to purchase scrapers with extendable handles. Scrapers, as with fish tank magnets, are designed for both acrylic fish tanks and glass fish tanks. If and when you decide to purchase a fish tank scraper, it is important that you examine the scraper in question. While a large number of scrapers are designed for both glass and acrylic fish tanks, there are some scrapers that are only safe to use with glass aquariums. To protect your acrylic aquarium, you need to carefully examine what you are purchasing.
If the fish tank that you recently purchased was an acrylic fish tank, you may need to purchase an acrylic fish tank scratch repair kit. While you might not necessarily associate repairs with cleaning, you should, particularly when it comes to acrylic fish tanks. A scratch on an acrylic fish tank, even just a small one, may change the way that you feel about your aquarium. That is why it advised that you look into have an acrylic fish tank scratch repair kit to have on hand, just incase. Should you accidentally scratch your acrylic fish tank when cleaning it, having an on hand acrylic fish tank supply scratch kit could fix that scratch and have your aquarium back to looking new in no time at all.
Gravel vacuums are another fish tank cleaning product that you may want to examine closer. Fish tank gravel vacuums are ideal for all fish tanks that have gravel bottoms and since most do, this piece of cleaning equipment may be perfect for you and your new fish tank. With a fish tank gravel vacuum, you can clean your fish tank and the gravel, without having to separate all of the contents. A gravel vacuum can distinguish fish tank gravel from other fish tank debris. Owning a fish tank gravel vacuum is fish tank cleaning at is best; it saves time and it tends to eliminate some of the many hassles associated with cleaning a fish tank. Most fish tank gravel vacuums are safe to use with glass fish tanks and acrylic fish tanks.
The above mentioned fish tank cleaning supplies and equipment pieces are just a few of the many that you may need to purchase for your new fish tank. For a more accurate list of supplies that you may want to look into purchasing, as well as a large selection of fish tank cleaning supplies available for sale, you are urged to examine FishTanksDirect.com.
By Conference Herald
July 18th, 2008 at 05:22pm
Under Summer
Pinot Grigio Wine From the Pinot Gris Grape
Pinot Grigio is the Italian name for Pinot Gris wine. This wine is made from grapes that range in color from bluish gray to pinkish gray which is where they get their name. In fact, clusters of grapes on the same vine can be of different colors.
The grapes have varying levels of sweetness, which tends to dissipate as the grapes ripen. There are different names for the grapes and thus the wine made from them depending on the country in which they are grown. In Burgundy they are known as Pinot Beurot, In Germany, they are called Rulander, not to be confused with Riesling (http://www.wineaccess.com/wine/grape/Riesling/).
The main area for production of Pinot Grigio is the Fruili region of Italy. There are also sizeable vineyards in Alsace, France and Oregon in the US. In Alsace, this grape is known as the Tokay d’Alsace and the wine has a very distinctive flavour. The Italian variety from Fruili has the best taste of all, perhaps due to the attention given to the growing and vinifying processes.
The typical flavor of the wine is delicately fragrant and has a slight lemon taste. However, the taste does depend on the wine making process used and can range from tangy to light and can be full-bodied. You can also get flavors of this wine that taste of pears, melons and tropical fruits, much like a Sauvignon Blanc (http://www.wineaccess.com/wine/grape/Sauvignon%20Blanc/). The Oregon versions of the wine have mainly tastes of peach and apricots, while those from Germany have a more earthy and austere taste.
The color of Pinot Grigio is usually light yellow in color and the texture is very smooth. It works well with cheese and fruit trays and with foods that are high in acidity because of the high acidic taste of the wine itself. This is a very simple wine that can be a very refreshing drink on a hot summer day. Because of its simplicity it is often overlooked for use at events and with meals. In Alsace it is most often paired with desserts or rich tasting foods. As a rule, it is mainly a cocktail wine.
Some of the most popular brands of Pinot Grigio are:
? Graffigna. This wine comes from the wineries of the San Juan region of Argentina and very closely resembles the Pinot Grigio of Alsace with its peach and pear aroma.
? Villa del Borgo. This wine has a fine, silky and succulent taste with a hint of fresh cream. It is inexpensive, but has the taste of a really expensive wine that you can have as an aperitif.
? Di Lenardo. Direct from Fruili, Italy, the home of Pinot Grigio, this wine has a crisp and refreshing taste. It is the perfect choice for relaxing at the end of the day.
? Villa Girardi. Produced in Venetto, Italy, this brand will give you a Venetian style of Pinot Grigio. It has a medium body and an aromatic flavour that just lends itself to use at a wine and cheese event.
? Jean-Baptists Adam. These wines from Alsace have a tendency to stimulate your appetite. They are the perfect choice as cocktails before dinner so that your guests will really enjoy the cuisine you prepare.
? Terlano. If you want a Pinot Grigio wine for sipping while you have stimulating conversation, this wine from Alto Adige, Italy, has the taste of minerals and lemon. It is the perfect wine to accompany seafood dishes.
Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in international travel, cuisine, and fine wine varietals. To browse a wide selection of wines including Pinot Grigio and Riesling, please visit http://www.wineaccess.com.
By Conference Herald
(out of 4 reviews)
