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Cleaning Up:  re-using bath water  |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
 Posted - May 01 2009 : 10:07:05 AM
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Do you re-use your used bath water? I take a nice hot bath every night. I know this uses a lot of water and I used to feel somewhat guilty for using so much water. Until I got to thinking. If I take a bath every night and I am not that "dirty" then the water is still good. right?
Sooooo I
clean kitty litter pans
wash back porch
clean car
clean boot trays
and much more.
So, am I crazy? or just thrifty?
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
farmgal #150 |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2009 : 10:13:33 AM
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Funny enough I have been thinking of this too!
It was on Wife Swap a few weeks ago. A family shares bath water-children-two girls go first, then mom, then dad.
The other "swapped" wife said this was gross and disgusting etc, well, I've been doing this with my family for years! Youngest goes first and dad goes last!
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
Edited by - MagnoliaWhisper on May 01 2009 7:16:49 PM |
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gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2009 : 10:16:20 AM
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Not the bath water but I do keep dish water for my outside plants. They really love it.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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homesteaderbelle
True Blue Farmgirl
391 Posts
Belle
USA
391 Posts |
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dutchy
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
4427 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2009 : 11:00:19 PM
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Washing the porch with your bath water sounds like a good idea, just like cleaning boots and the such. I only have a shower so no need to do that. But I try to use the water that comes from my dryer (yes I know me bad but only use it in the wintertime) to water the plants.
It is a good idea and not crazy just thrifty. And don't we all need to be thrifty!
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
My personal blog:
http://just-me-a-dutch-girl.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me and mine :)
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2009 : 05:37:00 AM
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Watering the plants, then I add bleach and pre-soak my whites, then I take those out and scrub down the tub. It works and no, it's not gross.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2009 : 10:00:55 AM
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We call it gray water down here and there are systems, some homemade, some professional, for re-using it. A few summers back we had serious drought conditions and a lot of city governments were implementing restrictions and raising rates. People were given a certain day of the week when they could water their lawns/flower beds. There were a lot of features on local news about people recycling their bath, laundry, and dish water.
We're on a well and were thankful the city had no control over our water usage. We try to be frugal anyway. Our well is shallow for the best water and we can't wash a load of clothes, run the dishwasher AND take a shower all at the same time. But we have a 15'x33' above ground pool that we keep full and I don't waste water with sprinklers. It takes longer, but I hand water ALLLL of my plants that need it. And I collect rainwater to supplement it. We don't have a system to collect gray water, yet. The hubs said that's a "necessary" project, meaning that when it becomes necessary, he'll figure out a way to do it!
But as for re-using gray water, I think it's smart as long as you aren't using dangerous chemicals that'll hurt the environment, ending up in our creeks and rivers. When baby girl was younger, we'd take a bath together. It was just easier for me to get in there with her and those times I didn't, I may as well have with all the water she splashed around! And not so very long ago, in the great scheme of things, families bathed only on Saturday night, one right after another in the tub, replenishing the cooled water as needed. And more often than not, those families were a lot larger than families of today!
I just think it's smart and responsible to use a thing, even water, until there's no more use left in it.
~~Cherry~~
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
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babysmama
True Blue Farmgirl
931 Posts
Elizabeth
Iowa
931 Posts |
Posted - May 03 2009 : 11:25:31 AM
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The baby and I take a bath together and then the two kids take a bath together in the water I just used. I take a shower every morning so I am not dirty in the evening, just like to relax in a warm bath. I remember doing this as a kid and it isn't gross to me.
Has anyone wondered if you can use your bath water in the washing machine? It is clean water, so why not, really?
-Elizabeth |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - May 04 2009 : 03:40:15 AM
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i read somewhere about people using the bath water for laundry. I thought of trying it...but the thought of lugging it down the stairs ....hmmmm not too sure about that. I'd probably spill it everywhere:)
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
farmgal #150 |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - May 04 2009 : 11:59:11 AM
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| Just remember...not to throw the baby out with the bath water!! |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 05:18:10 AM
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no kidding! LOL!!:)
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
farmgal #150 |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2009 : 05:38:48 AM
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Melanie, what a good way to assuage the guilt of a deep soak in the tub! Smart uses for the water.
Once our water was turned off for the afternoon while some pipes were being repaired down the road. It was an interminable amount of time. I cannot tell you how many times I went to the sink and tried to turn that water on! I appreciate running water every day!
I have seen many reports about the projected scarcity of potable water and you are smart for being so careful with it. There will come a time when we are all forced to conserve!
Farmgirl Sister #554 |
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JessieMae
True Blue Farmgirl
702 Posts
Jessie
Raleigh
North Carolina
USA
702 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2009 : 11:46:49 AM
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I remember being a kid and taking a bath on Saturday nights only (every other night I got a good scrubbing with a washcloth and a basin), and then Grandaddy re-using the water for his bath once I was in bed. Granny and Grandaddy didn't have indoor plumbing for a long, long time, and even after they did they kept their old water-conserving habits. Funny how much bathing habits have changed fairly recently with the advent of running water and a (seemingly) endless supply with the turn of a handle! Now, if you told someone you only bathed once a week, they'd be totally grossed out!
Jessie Mae
Farmgirl Sisterhood #134 |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2009 : 08:19:43 AM
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since we've been talking about this......when I bathe Oliver in the tub, it only takes a 1/4 of the amount of water for him since he is so little. Long after he is in bed the water is cold, but I start filling it with hot and then I have a nice hot bath re-using part of Oliver's water
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
farmgal #150 |
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Cleaning Up: re-using bath water |
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re-using bath water
