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Drought

Good piece in the Chronicle today about water and the current drought / shortage.  I have to admit the water situation in the state, as well as global, is pretty bleak.  Even if we were to get “normal” rainfall, what does normal really mean when we are surrounded by growth?  Growing population, growing industrial needs, aging infrastructure.  Normal or average water becomes totally irrelevant if your demands on the resource continue to increase.  And it isn’t enough to just do more.  Maybe you installed a low flush toilet.  Maybe you have a front loading High Efficiency washing machine.  Maybe you have a drought resistant landscape.  I congratulate you, you made important changes.

Do more.

I am sorry, but it is not enough.  I was struck by a post on the boards by a citizen who had listed all the conservation steps they had taken, and was complaining that they were being punished now because they could not reduce their use further.  I understand that frustration, but if you have cut as much as you can from your own household, then your next step is to make your friends, your family and your neighbor cut back their use too.  Sustainably can start as an individual effort, but it sure can’t stay that way.  I hate to get all hippie dippy but if it is not a communal effort, forget it.  San Francisco has one of the lowest per capita water use levels in the state.  Great.  Now we need to get Daly City, Oakland & Sausalito there as well.  And we can do more.  I know for a fact that I waste water.  I can upgrade my house, my properties, and my lifestyle to live more sustainably.  And if a nut job like me can do more, imagine how many gallons I could save if I got, for example,  my lazy brother to do something?  If increased conservation effort does not mirror increases in demand due to population and industrial growth, we will loose.

All of us.

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Gray water is one of these things that takes real commitment.  It is not an easy retrofit like solar pannels, once those are installed they pretty much run themselves.  But a water catchement system is a lifestyle change.  One book I read back a while ago, Design for Water by Heather Kinkade-Levario, is a great starting point.  And there are devices out there that you can use for a retrofit if you are going to go this route…I have a few hogs I bought on sale that I am going to hook up soon, they are pretty cool and if you have a way to get them installed I recommend them.  The Chronicle has a good piece today on Graywater as wel, and while it might not be at the top of your list when it comes to your next remodel, maybe you can think about ways to intgrate it.

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I was talking with one of my friends at SI yesterday about the drought – made me think again about how large our water problems are, but also how hidden the problem can be since the state is so big, and users are often so separated from the storage facilities they just don’t get how significant it is.  And all each of us has to do to help out in our own homes is to do the little, simple things, like buy a energy star rated front loading washer the next time we need a new appliance.  Here is a great Guerrilla Reporting Vid from socal, props to the person who made this.

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If it is raining is the drought over?

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