25 in 5

I promise I will write more about Duncan soon. There are, after all, two weeks worth of 3rd birthday to account for, and some juicy orchids from the New York Botanical Garden, but I read an interesting statistic today that I wanted to share. For every 5 minutes that you let tap water run, you run 25 gallons of water down the drain...that's good quality (sort of) water, the likes of which people in many other countries would dream of having in their homes. So here are a couple of other things I've changed around the house and forgotten to tell you. (I started these long before I read this statistic). First, I've stopped running the water while I wait for it to warm up for Duncan's bath. I put the stopper right in and save all the water; it doesn't take that long for water to warm up enough for a 3 year old. Also, our boy wakes up with matted, messy hair. For a while, we were running the tap as we wet and combed his hair in the morning; now we use a spray bottle. You may already know this, but if you own a dishwasher, it's actually more energy efficient to use it (as long as it's full, and you don't waste water rinsing the dishes first) than to wash dishes by hand. If you don't, be sure to use a basin for washing, and consider using a second basin for rinsing (I'm not quite there yet). Easy, peasy, lemon squeazy... three easy things anyone can do to save a lot of water. Just remember 25 in 5...it gives you pause to think.

(apologies to those who received the first draft by e-mail and then had to receive this tedious, slightly edited second draft)