Brown Spots in Your Lawn are a Badge of Honor

All outdoors watering of any kind is now banned. It is the strictest watering ban in Georgia history.

We've never watered our lawn at my house so I'm used to a brown lawn especially in the late summer and fall. But I have always felt a little sheepish about it. Now I won't. I'm going to wear that brown lawn like a badge of honor. A little attutide goes a long way. Although I've never watered my grass there is a small bed at the front of my house that I water with drip hoses and several trees I try to keep healthy through the hot summers. This is how I plan to get creative and conservative about outdoor watering at my house.

I plan to start using my gray water tonight. Gray water is collected from baths, rinsing foods, clothes washers and dishwashing. Even if it has dilute amounts of soap, gray water will not harm your plants. I will collect the water by placing a tupperware bucket under the faucet when I'm rinsing vegetables or even washing my hands. That water can be walked right out the front door and placed in the graden. My three-year-old will love it.

Speaking of three-year-olds-- mine loves her evening bath. Also starting tonight, I will recycle her bath water. No, I won't lug it outside with multiple trips with a bucket sloshing water on the stairs and rugs. I will recycle the water by siphoning it right outside with a hose through the window. And my huband is going to be mightly entertained in the process!

Composting. I've been putting this off for years. But I have a big back yard and no more excuses for not composting. This will have a three fold effect: save water, decrease solid waste and fertilize my garden. It's easy enough to keep a garbage bowl or on the counter and fill it with my family's organic waste such as coffee grounds, eggshells, and fruit and vegetable scraps. You can even dispose of tea bags, cardboard rolls, and dryer and vacuum cleaner lint.

And lastly, I plan to buy a shower timer this weekend. You can save 1000 gallons of water a month if you limit your showers to under 5 minutes. My husband isn't going to love this part of my plan. He loves to fritter the time away in the shower. But, hey, he will get to play with a siphon hose and a new electronic gadget, a decreased water bill-- which in Atlanta can add up to alot!