The greywater didn’t seem that grey but clear with a trace of brown sand settled at the bottom of Mom’s old Tupperware container. Washing the sand off the freshly picked bok choy took work but was worth the effort. Nobody likes to eat a bowl of sandy stir fried veggies. Most of the Mississippi dirt was caught in the broad white main rib of each leaf and vacated easily. The sandiest veggies seemed to be spinach, leeks, and kales, where soil hid in the contours of leaves. Methodically I rinsed and continued with celery, carrots, a Japanese leek, capturing the rinsing water in the gallon container in the sink.
Once filled I walked out the door and poured the contents over the nearest neediest plant on the deck. Back and forth I trekked from the kitchen to the backyard, watering the potted flowers and herbs with the rinsing water from all of the veggies of that day’s meal. After lunch I would continue the watering with greywater captured from hand washing the meal’s dishes. (I use Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds or mild detergents because they are environmentally friendly.)
It doesn’t seem like a big action, but it is huge for me. Just one small effort in the fight to conserve water and save the planet. Now if I could only do it every day for every meal. That is the challenge. But life on the farm gets busy.
My brother Bill first got me interested in recycling greywater. Living up in the dry environs of Wyoming, water is a valuable commodity. He has a system of big buckets that he uses in his kitchen. At first glance I thought he had a plumbing problem, but he said no. After our meal, I jumped up to do the dishes. In an effort to empty the sink to start washing, I poured a bucket half-filled with greywater down the drain. My brother grimaced. “That’s my greywater.” He explained the logistics of his dishwashing and water recycling. “This is Wyoming. Every drop of water counts.”
We washed the dishes together. Afterwards he toted the bucket of refuse water out back and poured it over a blob of melting snow and beige dirt, where his compost lurked beneath. Okay, I agreed with him in principle, but it was winter. There was nothing green to be seen. A return visit to Bill’s place in summertime convinced me. The backyard gardens grew a robust paradise of vegetables. Tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, chard, radishes and much more all flourished and overflowed their beds. Bill’s greywater was fertilizing his plants and lowering his water bill.
After seeing my brother’s success, I decided to try it at Pearl River Blues, and for the past few years, we’ve been putting a percentage of our greywater to use. We don’t make a big production of it. We haven’t rerouted plumbing or dug trenches. On busy days, we may only recycle a gallon of greywater. But it is worth it. Like cover cropping, composting, recycling, using organic seeds and fertilizers, employing drip line, carpooling and consolidating trips in the car—greywatering our flowers is just another tool we use here to be more sustainable. Maybe it will work for you, too. Happy Earth Day from the Pearl River Blues Green Team!
#30#
Once filled I walked out the door and poured the contents over the nearest neediest plant on the deck. Back and forth I trekked from the kitchen to the backyard, watering the potted flowers and herbs with the rinsing water from all of the veggies of that day’s meal. After lunch I would continue the watering with greywater captured from hand washing the meal’s dishes. (I use Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds or mild detergents because they are environmentally friendly.)
It doesn’t seem like a big action, but it is huge for me. Just one small effort in the fight to conserve water and save the planet. Now if I could only do it every day for every meal. That is the challenge. But life on the farm gets busy.
My brother Bill first got me interested in recycling greywater. Living up in the dry environs of Wyoming, water is a valuable commodity. He has a system of big buckets that he uses in his kitchen. At first glance I thought he had a plumbing problem, but he said no. After our meal, I jumped up to do the dishes. In an effort to empty the sink to start washing, I poured a bucket half-filled with greywater down the drain. My brother grimaced. “That’s my greywater.” He explained the logistics of his dishwashing and water recycling. “This is Wyoming. Every drop of water counts.”
We washed the dishes together. Afterwards he toted the bucket of refuse water out back and poured it over a blob of melting snow and beige dirt, where his compost lurked beneath. Okay, I agreed with him in principle, but it was winter. There was nothing green to be seen. A return visit to Bill’s place in summertime convinced me. The backyard gardens grew a robust paradise of vegetables. Tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, chard, radishes and much more all flourished and overflowed their beds. Bill’s greywater was fertilizing his plants and lowering his water bill.
After seeing my brother’s success, I decided to try it at Pearl River Blues, and for the past few years, we’ve been putting a percentage of our greywater to use. We don’t make a big production of it. We haven’t rerouted plumbing or dug trenches. On busy days, we may only recycle a gallon of greywater. But it is worth it. Like cover cropping, composting, recycling, using organic seeds and fertilizers, employing drip line, carpooling and consolidating trips in the car—greywatering our flowers is just another tool we use here to be more sustainable. Maybe it will work for you, too. Happy Earth Day from the Pearl River Blues Green Team!
#30#
RSS Feed
