Okay, so I’m taking shorter showers to reduce water wasted in there; what else am I doing? Not using toilet paper! Well at least not all the time.

Instead of using toilet paper when all unwanted liquids have been expelled, I squirt and dab. Haha. It sounds gross but it’s not. I squirt myself clean with a quick squirt from a water bottle that’s hiding out near the toilet, then dab dry with small towelettes made from an old unused towel that was hiding out in the linen closet. I keep the towelettes on the back of the toilet in a little glass cup and I let them dry on a little glass soap dish. They get tossed in the wash with the undergarments and bathroom linens when laundry time comes around (once a week). This keeps the toilet paper usage to a minimum, and allows the dreamboat and I to now adhere to the wonderful mantra of “Yellow is mellow, brown goes down,” which saves water. You can’t do that when you’re worried about wads of toilet paper clogging the pipes.

I originally ran across this idea on Vanessa’s blog Green as a Thistle; post “No tp for pee pee“, and thought it would be an excellent undertaking for myself. I know the thought will probably gross out many a people, but urine is sterile when it first leaves the body and the gents walk away without breaking out the toilet paper all the time. The dreamboat mentioned a week or so ago that he’s noticed we go through far less toilet paper these days, which is both good for the trees, good for the pocket, and good for my conscience. Yay!

Step #1-Conserve more water-This is the first thing i have added. Being someone who tries to be as green as possible you would think i would have already adopted this huh? What was holding me back? I love love LOVE long showers. My average shower time used to be 35 to 40 minutes, twice a day, no exaggeration. How does one spend that long in the shower you may wonder? For people named Audrey Reed its way easy! Turn on shower, enter, stand and soak, brush teeth, soak, enjoy, sing (have you ever heard the acoustics in a bathroom? they’re awesome!), wash face, rinse face, rinse face again because we really don’t like citrus soap in our eyes, rinse once more for good measure (oranges in your eyes burns man!), day dream, wash upper body, get lost in thought, soak, rinse, sing again, wash bottom half, contemplate whatever occupies the mind, rinse, soak once more, turn off shower, exit. Id then do this all again at night, except no singing. Talk about waste hmm?

These days i’ve cut it down to 10 to 15 minutes, and while most would still say thats too long, its the best this lady will ever do. I cut it down by brushing my teeth at the sink without the water running, washing my face at night at the sink without the water running, giving up my night shower all together, singing while i wash (multitasking is a very important skill to have indeed), and trying to have self control during the “oh the hot water feels so good and its cold out i’m just going to stand here a while” moments. Not only do i feel better for wasting a lot less water, its cut down on the time it takes me to get ready. Thats something the dreamboat appreciates i’m sure.

In addition i’ve also cut down on the water i use to wash the dishes (washing them right after using them eliminates the need to soak and cuts down on water needed during washing) and i’ve started keeping cold water in the fridge. We live in the apartment right above the water heater and we would have to let the water run a good minute for it to get cold. Now cold water is available whenever we want it and its tasty in my new sigg bottle.

Small steps, big difference in the long run. Check out treehuggers steps for greening your water if you need ideas on jump starting your water conservation.