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The average home can reduce their water consumption by around 30% by re-using grey water on their garden.

The figures are compelling. Sure, they vary from household to household, but they go something like this

An average household on a suburban block consumes some 60,000 gallons/300,000 litres of water a year- all of it drinking-quality water from the tap.

Around one-third, or 20,000 gallons/100,000 litres a year, is used on gardens and lawns.

That means that around 40,000 gallons/200,000 litres get used in the home.

Almost all of that (lets say 36,000 gallons/180,000 litres) leaves the home, and the block, as waste water.

Now, here’s the fun part. According to one major water body, approximately 60% of that is re-usable grey water. That includes water from the bathroom and laundry, but does not include black water from the toilet, or water from the kitchen.

60% of 36,000/180,000 is just over 20,000 gallons/100,000 litres.

Where have we heard that number before? Oh, yes, that’s the same 20,000/100,000 we put on the garden and lawns!

As we said, the figures are compelling. The question is, how do we do it in practice? Where do we find a product to take advantage of this free water, worth about $100 at today’s low prices?

Let’s start by excluding a few options from the discussion. At the bottom end of the scale, we’ll exclude bucketing water from the house, and gravity feeding a hose from the washing machine. Cheap, but time consuming, and limited in application. We’ll also exclude waste/grey water treatment systems that cost many thousands of dollars.

So that’s what the product we’re seeking isn’t. What would the ideal product be? It would

- be able to accept water from both bathroom and/or laundry.

- automatically pump water to the garden.

- pump itself out every 24 hours to meet the requirements of health and environment authorities.

- have a unit price under $1000.

There is now such a product on the Australian market, called eco-Care. Visit our website, and you can read more about it, and other Grey Water Systems.

We need to think about how we use grey water to get the best results, and avoid problems. A few points worth considering

Use grey water sub-surface if possible.

Don’t use grey water near fruit or vegetables.

Don’t use grey water containing lint and hair with fine-pore soaker hoses.

Grey water is alkaline, so don’t drown acid-loving plants in it.

Choose a less aggressive detergent and you can use the water on more plants.

Read the detergent lab report at our site to help you choose.

Don’t let grey water leave your property

Remain actively involved in the use and maintenance of your equipment

Follow these few sensible guidelines, and you may be able to reduce YOUR water consumption by 30%, saving money, and the environment. -

What about water tanks, you ask? It’s a whole different subject, but I’d answer you this way”They’re great, but use that high-quality rainwater inside the house, where we can’t really use grey water.”

John Payne is the Founder of Enviro-Friendly Products, a marketer of water tanks, solar hot water systems, grey water systems, leafless guttering and hot water recirculators. You’re invited to visit the Enviro-Friendly Products website, where you’ll find full product and contact details.

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Your outdoor plants have worked hard for you all summer, making your yard a place you’re proud to call home. Properly winterizing your lawn and garden is an important step toward healthy soil, lush grass, and happy plants next year. Remember to take care of your outdoor accessories, including your lawn equipment, gardening tools, and all of your lawn and garden decor. A little time spent this autumn will make your gardening and landscaping efforts easier and more enjoyable next spring!

Let’s start with the easy jobs - First remember to store all of your lawn and garden decor including fragile planters, gazing balls, and your deck furniture. Unglazed terra cotta planters left filled with soil outside will often break in the freezing temperatures so it is best to clean them and place them in a storage area where they are protected from the elements.

Autumn is the time to find your birdfeeders and to start stocking your winter feeding pantry. Soon your many feathered friends will be flocking to your feeders for that nutritious morsel. Remember to keep your feeders full through the winter as the birds need reliable food sources through the winter months.

Now that you’ve done the easy tasks, let’s move on to the more mundane winterizing chores. Start by simply cleaning up the vegetable garden. After the first hard frost, remove the year’s annual plants and the dead vegetation. You can add this material to your compost pile, but make sure you’re not adding material from diseased or pest-infested plants. You’ll want to pull perennial weeds before you mulch your garden down for the winter.

The best part of fall landscape chores is planting the spring-blooming bulbs. Crocus, tulips, and daffodils are a beautiful addition to the early spring landscape.

In the yard there’s the major job of raking leaves. These are great either in the compost pile or as direct mulch on the garden. Perennial flowers may be smothered by a heavy layer of mulch, however. Also, wait to prune your trees until later in the winter.

After the ground freezes you can mulch your perennial flowers and newly planted trees. Certain shrubs will need to be wrapped in burlap to protect them from wind damage, sun scald, and other winter injury.

Moving on to the mechanical tasks of winterizing your lawn and garden - While you might try to procrastinate on these jobs until spring, you’ll be well rewarded for the maintenance you perform this fall. Drain the gas from your lawnmower and string trimmer. Actually it’s best to let your mowers and trimmers simply run out of fuel. If you don’t want to ‘waste’ that little bit of fuel, add a gas conditioner before the long winter. Be sure to follow directions. Also, take the same care with your gardening equipment such as your rotary tiller.

Clean all of your landscaping equipment before you store it away for the long, cold winter. Wash with soap and water, clean the air filter, and change the oil. You’ll find that first lawn mowing job in the spring a little bit easier if you take time to sharpen the blades now. You can protect that freshly sharpened blade by applying a little spray oil to the blades. You can also apply light spray oil to other moving parts such as cables and the throttle controls.

Lastly, drain all of the water from the garden hoses and turn off the taps. Be sure to store your insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in a safe storage area that will not freeze. Make sure these materials are kept away from children and pets!

© Copyright www.bestlawnandgarden.com, All Rights Reserved.

John Biondi is a frequent contributor to Best Lawn and Garden. For more Articles and tips on Lawn and Garden care, Gardening and Garden Decor visit http://www.bestlawnandgarden.com

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From the moment I learned I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. That feeling only strengthened when my beautiful son was born. I took one look at him and wondered how I could ever give up the opportunity to spend each and every day with him, watching him grow and learn, and exploring the world for the first time through his eyes. But there was a problem. We were a two-income family. How could we possibly afford to eliminate one of those incomes? Well, there are a lot of answers to that question and I’d like to share the ones I found with you.

The first thing I looked at when determining “what we can afford” is how much money we made. I was wrong. What I really needed to examine was our expenses. So, the first step I took in my quest to stay home was to list the expenses I would incur in order to work, versus staying home. This is what I came up with: professional clothing (your kids don’t mind that you wear sweats!); transportation costs: fuel, tolls, public transit, parking, etc.; those “must-have” coffee and/or donut stops each morning; lunches with coworkers; gifts for coworkers (holidays and special occasions); CHILDCARE - it’s in bold print for a reason. If you haven’t priced this one out yet, do it now. This will easily be your greatest expense. And, it only goes up with each child.

Go ahead and add up all these expenses. Don’t be too depressed, because there’s good news: these expenses represent your “instant rebate” for staying home. You’ve essentially just eliminated the need for a good portion (if not all) of your income. Need more savings? Keep reading!

How many times per week are you dining out at restaurants, getting take out, ordering in, etc? By staying at home, you have the time to go to the grocery store and prepare a wholesome and much more economical meal for your family.

Eliminate (or at least cut back) on your little luxuries. Manicures, pedicures, massages, hair highlights, 300 television channels, 2000 cell phone minutes. You get the picture.

Clip coupons. I actually started buying the Sunday paper each week just for the coupons! You may have never seen the need to do this while you were working, but if you take the time, it will save you money. There are also plenty of online sites that provide coupons.

Examine your bills carefully. When we had 2 fulltime incomes, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I rarely looked at any bill in detail. If there was an amount due, I paid it. I never looked at it, never questioned it. Now I go over every health insurance summary, utility statement, etc. with a magnifying glass. And, I can honestly say in the past 2 years I have caught almost $1000 in billing errors. That’s $1000 more for my family.

Make this a team effort. If staying home only appeals to you and not your partner, your chances of success are greatly diminished. Making adjustments to the family budget will affect the lifestyle of all those involved. This transition will be much smoother with the support of your significant other.

And last, but certainly not least, follow your heart! If you feel called to stay home with your children, then do it! All it takes is the determination to succeed and the willingness to reduce expenses. Best of luck to you!

Jennifer Tarzian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Her experience includes sales, service, and managing a small corporation. She is proud to be a stay-at-home mom and enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

http://www.youngparentsmagazine.com
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