the dangers of enviro-clicking

Just before the school year started, I decided to spend my time clicking on random environmental blogs rather than revising my paper about Germany. I stumbled on an episode of Greentime (a slightly irritating video podcast) entitled Reusing Greywater.

I decided to try one of the tips in the episode, collecting the water that you let run while waiting for the shower to heat up. Just for the heck of it. I always let the water run only minimally (I get in the shower stall and hold my hand/foot in the water to detect exactly when it gets hot), so I didn't think there could be that much. But it overflowed a pitcher! That's more than enough water to water my 13 plants! And it's clean, virgin, never-used water, not gross like milk carton water (don't ask) or apple washing water!

Now, I'm faced with the task of deciding if I should save it all the time and have a water bank in case of apocalypse, or if I can just do it when I actually want to water the plants. Damn you, enviro-clicking! Actually, I've kind of decided on the latter. That's crazy enough, according to most people... and Champaign-Urbana is hardly a desert. Additionally, I do not own a water tower.

The Greentime guy also uses the exact same technique for washing apples that my grandmother used: do it in a basin in the sink, and then use the water in the basin to water your plants. It's weird to think that your grandmother who seemed to be living a hundred years in the past was actually ahead of her time.