Okay, it's getting a little scary.  There was an article in our Atlanta paper saying that we had 3 months worth of drinking water left for the metro Atlanta area, assuming we continue getting very little rain.  The thought of this is quite alarming. 

We have been subjected to water restrictions in Atlanta for months, and have been every summer for as long as I can remember.  Until recently however, it was alternating days for lawn watering and car washing.  Now we have a total outdoor water ban. 

In our family we have been aware of our excessive water use for months now.  I have talked about it with my children and we have discussed ways that we can further  reduce our water usage, beyond not watering our grass, washing our cars or leaving the water on while brushing our teeth. 

We have initiated several measures which might be worth sharing.  The first and most obvious is the old "if it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down!"  This works really well, but I have to remind my kids that after 3 or 4 yellows it really is time for a flush!!  (Note to self: if a friend or neighbor drops in, run around like a maniac flushing every toilet in the house so as not to be embarrassed!) 

We are trying to reduce the amount of laundry we do by only washing clothes THAT ARE REALLY DIRTY, NOT JUST ONES THAT MY KIDS DON'T FEEL LIKE PUTTING AWAY!!  How many times have I found clothes which have been rejected by my daughter, in particular, in the hamper?  Too many to count, but the final straw is when I find FOLDED clean clothes at the bottom of the hamper.  My 8 year old son took this to a new extreme when he stopped wearing underwear to cut down on laundry water consumption!! 

We leave a bucket in our showers and fill it up with the cold water that runs while we wait for the warm water to come.  Then while showering, we strategically place that bucket nearby to get any run off from our body and hair washing.  It's amazing how quickly we can fill up a bucket.  My 13 year old son's job is to carry that "bonus water" out to water the plants in our yard and in our containers.  Or sometimes we use that "bonus water" to pour into the tank of the toilet. 

It's been fun trying to save water together as a family.  It makes you think every time you turn on the faucet.    I am thinking about using paper plates more, but then what about our landfills?  Darn, it's hard being an environmentalist!!