it's all drains!

Thanks to a new national advertising campaign, in the interest of saving water, Brazilians are being urged to pee in the shower. Narrated by children's voices, the television ads depict cartoon images of people urinating in the shower and end with the message: "Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!"

While the ads are meant to be humorous, the message is serious. The environmental group behind the ads, SOS Mata Atlantica, claims that if each household avoids one flush per day, they can save 4,380 litres of water annually.

I am all about saving the rainforest, but I can’t help but think that this a little (ok, a LOT) gross. Can’t you save the same amount of water just by skipping one flush, say, in the middle of the night? Whatever happened to “If it’s yellow, let it mellow…”?

And before you jump on the bandwagon and go all George Costanza on us, remember that basic etiquette dictates that you should never, ever pee in a public shower.


*Edit: Moments after posting this, I received an email from The Home Depot informing me that low-flow toilets are now on 30% off. Coincidence? I think not!

thirsty thursday

Are you guilty of running the water while you brush your teeth? In the time it takes for you to *properly* brush (two minutes, according to my dentist), 8 gallons of water can go right down the drain! Turn off that tap!

A few more ways that you can cap the tap:

- Plug the drain before filling the bathtub. The temperature can be adjusted as the tub fills.

- Multi-task in the shower. Wash your body or your face while your hair conditioner soaks in. Cutting your showers short by 1 or 2 minutes can save 120 gallons/month. Aim for showers of five minutes or less (I know, I know...working on that...)

- Speaking of which, showering "with a friend" doesn't save water. Quit fooling yourself and rent a room! Baths are a different story, though. The more people you can fit in a bathtub, the better. ;-)