15 Ways to Save Water and Conserve Energy

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You don't have to be trying to "go green" to want to save water and conserve energy. You might just be trying to save money! Conserving energy, saving water (especially hot water) can help you cut down on monthly utility bills and help the environment all at the same time.

Here's a list of tips, some you may know (and need reminding of), but many may be new to you:

1. When you're shaving, don't let the water run. Instead, pull up the plug and put a few inches of water in the sink - and rinse your razor in that. Instant water savings (hot water too)!

2. Only run appliances like your dryer or dishwasher when they're full. Running them when they're part empty means that you're wasting energy, and water.

3. Put insulation on your water pipes. You can buy the foam insulation with the pre-cut slits and just slide it on yourself. This way you get hot water faster without waiting, and you avoid wasting more water when you're waiting for it to get hot.

4. Do you know where your water meter is? Use it to check and see if you have a leak somewhere. Take a shower, and then check your meter. Then tell everyone in the house not to use any water for 2 hours - and got and check the meter. If you've used water per the meter (and nobody used water in the house) you may have a leak somewhere.

5. If your toilet flushes well, consider putting an empty weighted and sealed 20 ounce soda bottle or two in the tank (away from the moving parts). Weight them down with pebbles or rocks inside. Just displacing this little amount of water will save hundreds of gallons throughout the month of flushes.

6. Check your hot water heater to see what the set temperature is. It really doesn't need to be above 120-140 degrees, and if it is you may be heating your water to a higher temperature than it needs to be. In addition, if you have small children in the house, it really isn't safe to have water hotter than 140 degrees available through the tap.

7. Check your water heater, is it warm to the touch? If so, you could probably save money by fitting it with a cheap insulation jacket to keep that heat inside.

8. If you have dripping faucets fix them. Did you know that a dripping faucet could waste as much as 3,000 gallons of water per year?

9. Do you drink water from the tap and let it run to get cold? Store some water in the refrigerator and let it get cold there, rather than letting the water run and wasting it just to get a cold glass of water.

10. Does your toilet run sometimes, sticking open letting all the water rush into the bowl? Fix it with replacement parts so you don't waste water.

11. Do you use a garbage disposal in your sink? They take a lot of water to run. Consider throwing that food out back in your yard for a compost heap instead for the garden to conserve water and be more environmentally friendly.

12. Check your toilet for leaks by adding some food coloring to the tank and waiting 30 minutes. If any of the color seeps through to the bowl - you have a leak that needs to be fixed.

13. Replace your shower with a low-flow or restricted flow shower head that uses less water.

14. Consider taking shorter showers - or using a timer when you and family members are in the shower to conserve both water and energy.

15. Ask a plumber about the possibility of installing an instant water heater under your kitchen sink. This will save a lot of water heating for your household since hot water is used in the kitchen sink quite frequently.

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