|
As drought conditions continue in Colorado and neighboring states, it’s
wise to consider different ways to conserve water. On average, Americans
use 50 to 100 gallons of water per day for personal and household use,
not counting watering lawns and outdoor
plants. While the toilet, shower and bathroom sink are obvious places to
start when conserving water in the home, the kitchen is also an area
where water use can be reduced with a few simple and easy changes.
Following are some tips and suggestions for conserving water in the
kitchen.
- Scrub fruits and vegetables in a bowl or pan of water rather than
under continuously running water. Once cleaned, rinse with clear water.
Save the water used to wash fruits and vegetables for rinsing dirty
dishes or for watering plants.
-
Thaw meats and other frozen foods in the refrigerator overnight or
in the microwave oven rather than under running water.
-
Store drinking water in the refrigerator. It will be ice cold and
save you from having to run the tap until the water cools.
-
When you need hot water, heat it on the stove or in the microwave
oven. If you do need to run tap water and wait for it to get hot or
cold, capture the water for other uses such as watering plants or
soaking dishes.
-
Use the minimum amount of water necessary when cooking foods such
as frozen vegetables and stews. This will maximize nutritional value as
well as save water.
-
Minimize the number of cooking utensils and dishes to cut down on
the water needed for dishwashing.
-
Kitchen sink disposals require lots of water to operate properly.
To limit disposal use, peel vegetables, eggs and other food onto paper
towels, then dispose in a garbage container or add to the compost pile
if you have available outdoor space. Limiting use of garbage disposals
also helps decrease the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic
matter added to wastewater, thus helping to improve water quality and
prolong the life of septic tanks.
-
Scrape dishes but don’t rinse before loading into your dishwasher,
especially if you’ll be running the dishwasher within a few hours. If
rinsing is necessary, catch water in a tub in the sink and use that
water for rinsing rather than using a running faucet.
-
Run only full dishwasher loads. Select the cycles that use the
least number of washes and rinses. You can cut the amount of water used
for dishwashing in half by choosing short-run cycles.
-
Reduce the number of dishwasher loads by washing large cooking and
serving utensils by hand in a pan of hot water. Wash or at least soak
soon after use so that food does not harden on dishes and thus require
more water to clean.
-
When hand-washing dishes, save water by filling two containers –
one with soapy water and the other with rinse water containing a small
amount of chlorine bleach (1/2 teaspoon per 2 quarts water).
Try to do one thing each day that will result in saving water. Don’t
worry if the savings are minimal. Every drop counts, especially when
multiplied over many days and many households. You can make a
difference.
For more information, contact your local
Colorado State University Extension office.
Go to top of this page.
Updated Tuesday, November 27, 2007
|
