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Nature Care Challenge | February 2021: Flush Less

Posted on February 1, 2021October 18, 2021 by Malu

Hello friends!

This month I have a very small and and silly challenge for you. I figured, last month’s challenge is a big one, so this month I’ll give you a really simple one.

This month I challenge you to save water with your bathroom habits.

Yes, it is a very weird one and the more private people among you may have strong reservations about it. But hear me out.

Think about how much water fits into that tank above your toilet. Think about how often you use the bathroom in a day. In most households, fresh, clean water is pumped into the toilet tanks and there is no built in regulator to limit the amount of flushing water. Your bladder holds about 700 to 1500ml (24-50 fl oz) water. And most of the time you go, its not filled to the maximum. And then you use 6 to 9 litres (1.5 – 2.4 gallons) to flush it down.

What if you peed in the shower while you’re in there anyway? From a hygienic perspective there is nothing wrong with it. Urine is still today used to treat skin conditions (although today the commercial ingredient is made synthetically). That would be one flush less for every shower.

What if, as is considered the polite thing to do in many drought-prone areas, you follow the motto “if its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown, flush it down”?

What if you have one of those old fashioned toilets where you can take the lid off the tank and put a brick inside? The brick displaces water in the tank and effectively makes the capacity smaller. Then, less water is used per flush.

If you are into building or renovating houses and want to make them eco-friendlier, look into “grey water”. Grey water is a concept where slightly soiled water such as from the shower drain, washing machine and sinks around the house is not directed into the sewage, but first collected in a grey water tank. Here the water is filtered and reused for toilet flushing and possibly the garden hose.

*Title image by Matthew Feeney; toilet image by Sincerely Media

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    About me

    My name is Malu. I am a conservation-ecologist currently living in Germany. I’ve always been wild about the outdoors and can spend hours looking at an insect labouring away at its daily challenges, or a bird building its nest, or … there’s just so much amazing stuff happening out there! I’m really glad you’ve made it onto this page so I can share my joy with you.

    Monthly Challenges

    We only have about 6 to 8 years left to turn this environmental mess of a ship around. So much has to happen politically, but the people also need to change habits and start to appreciate our environment more. So every 1st of the month I post a nature care challenge with environmentally friendly lifestyle choices of habits for you to try for 30 days and, if you like, let it stick with you for longer, maybe even for life.

    Lots of little droplets make up the largest ocean.

    Are you absolutely unable to do the current challenge? Or maybe you are underwhelmed with the challenge and want an extra one? Check out the previous challenges to see if there is something you would like to try.

    The challenges  make up the major part in the flow of posts here, so they are easy to find. But if you want to get a good overview of the challenges set so far, simply follow the link below.

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    Contact me and pitch your challenge to me. It might be up next month. You can either write the whole challenge, and why we should do it, or just give me an idea for something to look into.

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