I am grateful today for our constant supply of clean, delicious water, yet cognizant of the vast number of people in the world who do not have this basic life necessity. To acknowledge World Water Day today, I recalculate my personal water usage: H2O Conserve and set a new reduction goal. To focus on the in world's water issues, I also sign a petition requesting that Congress addresses the global safe drinking water issue at the Natural Resources Defense Council's site.
A few years ago, I installed drip irrigation in my vegetable garden and was pleasantly surprised that it was inexpensive and relatively easy to set up. Since the drip tape is placed below the mulch, very little water is wasted, supplying the plants with water, rather than sending vapor into the air.
In my flower gardens I've found that the lowest water users are native perennials planted in the appropriate environment. Over the years I have also come to truly appreciate shade gardens due to their minimal need for supplemental water.
Since I'm conscious of the fact that a product’s life cycle generally includes a significant amount of water in manufacturing, I try to recycle as much as possible. Creating one can from another, for instance, uses much less water than manufacturing the original can, so I try to avoid ending an item's “life cycle”. I'd like to be able to recycle more than is currently possible at Pawling’s transfer station. At Earth 911's site, I located a company that recycles for all of Dutchess County: Royal Carting, 409 Route 82, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533, (845) 896-6000, (800) 522-7235. Their website states that they accept following items not currently recycled at the Pawling transfer station:
· Plastics #3 , #5, and #7
· Telephone books, paperback books, junk mail (including envelopes and coupons)
· All dry, loose or bagged white and colored ledgers
· Copy paper, note pads, loose-leaf fillers, computer print-outs
· Single wall, non-corrugated boxes used to package dry food
· Cereal boxes, shoe boxes and other similar packaging
· Paper egg cartons, construction paper
They assure me that as a Pawling resident I can utilize their transfer station for a small fee, a dollar or two. So my goal for World Water Day is to bring these items to Hopewell monthly and expand my water (and other natural resources) saving efforts.
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