Every time you eat a piece of fruit, enjoy a drink on the terrace or choose an item of clothing, you are wasting water. You may not see it running from the faucet like when you don’t turn it off when you brush your teeth, or tossing and turning in the washing machine when you use it because of half a dozen t-shirts. But you are consuming water in almost every decision you make from when you wake up until you go to bed.
We all know the basic tricks and the little ones in the house even learn them at school: take shorter showers, wash the dishes in the machine instead of manually when possible and pay attention to the flushing of the toilet. But if we think outside the box, how far can everyone’s commitment to saving water really go?
This was the question we asked Francisco Ferreira, professor in the Environment area at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and president of Associação Zero; and Sara Correia, Environmental Engineer and technician from the same association. Both experts shared with the Observer unusual ideas to save water, and these are 10 solutions that can help fight drought.
Transform your home into a “jungle” of dried plants. It is a decoration trend that gained popularity during the pandemic to bring nature home when going out was not an option: the “urban jungle” consists of decorating a room with more plants -many more plants- than a vase with a simple lucky bamboo If you are a fan of this way of decorating, choose plants that need less water, such as cacti or dryland plant branches. If succulents are not to your liking, adopt the Sword of São Jorge, the rubber tree, the elephant foot or the bow tie. Push moisture-loving plants, such as ferns or areca-bamboo, into the bathroom. And in the kitchen choose laurels.
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Source: Observadora
