A few days ago, the San Jose Mercury News wrote an article about a woman living near the Oakland, California area who is living a “low H2O lifestyle”. Californians are facing a drought crisis right now, so the practices Elizabeth Dougherty, a conservation activist, is applying are admirable. Her practices include wearing her clothes at least three times before washing them, collecting rainwater to water her garden with and collecting water from the shower to use.

Elizabeth also embraces other ideas that are mindful of water use that are easy to follow. For example, she has a low-flow toilet and aerators on her faucets, and her garden is filled with drought-tolerant plants. Even if you do one of these things, such as installing a low-flow toilet, it can save gallons a day since “toilets account for roughly 20 percent of average indoor water use.”

AWWA also has conservations tips available to consider.