24 water saving tips from drought-hit Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is in the middle of a water crisis - here's some lively advice from their community message boards on saving water, sent in by a thirsty Waihekan:

1. When showering, use a big-sized 'chub'. This collects the cold-water-turning-to-warm-water water that no one can stand standing in. Can be literally litres down the drain.
2. After that, wet yourself. Turn shower off. Soap and shampoo... up. Turn back on water and rinse off.
3. For women who condition hair and shave legs. Do it. While the water is off. Turn back on, then rinse.
4. Use water in chub for your toilet cistern or garden, or for rinsing dishes.
5. If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down. Nope, smell is not nice. Put loo lid down, spray something smelly and shut the door. You'll survive.
6. Use as little toilet paper as possible if using tip 5, otherwise it's hard to flush and causes havoc to drains and septics.
7. Get a plumber to hook your dishwasher and clothes washing machine to a separate drain that you can 'catch' grey water from. Get a large rubbish bin or similar to catch this grey water and use for your garden or toilet cistern.
8. Put a brick or similar in your toilet cistern to limit amount of water being used.
9. When rinsing dishes, using your grey water or just put a plug in your sink and use a tiny amount of water to rinse your dishes (after scraping well) before washing by hand or using your dishwasher. BTW, most dishwashers only use 12 litres of water and if stacked properly and used on an eco-cycle, are preferable to doing a few loads of dishes a day (approx 9 litres of water per load, including rinsing).
10. Also when preparing dishes for cleaning: use a dish brush. Scrub! Get rid of most of the debris from scraping first (in the bin) and then scrub in your designated rinsing water. SOOOO much water is let down the drain when doing this task... put a plug in, use the water in the sink and SCRUB.
11. Always use the eco-cycle on washing machines and dishwashers.
12. Do we wash our clothes too much? If it doesn't have a hoary great stain, and if it doesn't stink to high heaven, put it back and wear it again!
13. Have a swim at the beach or local pool. Use the water taps at beach to get rid of excess sand and salt or chlorine. You are clean, believe it or not.
14. Get some roof water. Not hard. Get a plumber to check your gutter and install a pipe to a garden tub or tank if you can afford it. It could save your garden or your personal water supply (many households paying about $60 per month for water now with new council in AK). In fact, get off the reticulated water supply as much as you can. It does rain a lot in NZ and rain water does taste nicer... (note about filters and fluoride).
15. Water left over from boiling veges, half cups of water or other drinks, etc, use for your garden, toilet cistern or rinsing dishes. Have buckets in every 'wet' room for this purpose so people don't have to think about it.
16. Brushing teeth: another culprit of mass water wastage ... fill up a glass (or less) of water before you start. Load your brush with paste, dip into water, scrub, spit, dip into water again. Scrub, etc. Use end of cup to gargle and rinse brush, and then sink. Can be done!
17. When handling 'grey' water or dirty water, wash hands to prevent too many germs... hand sanitiser is great for this - no water.
18. Consider where you should plant your garden. Best on bottom of slope to catch water (sun also needs to be considered).
19. Place buckets and empty rubbish bins outside to catch rain in summer and dry times to use for gardens, dish rinsing and toilet flushing.
20. Don't wash your car. Dirty is the new cool. The inside of your car can be sprayed and wiped down. And vacuumed. Clean as.
21. Don't wash beach towels and togs you've used in the sea. Seawater has washed them - hang them out on line and let sun sanitise. Can be used again and again throughout summer and be clean as. Shake sand out. :)
22. When cleaning kitchen or bathroom, use a spray bottle of cleaning fluid or just water mixed with a bit of detergent and vinegar. You don't need to constantly rinse your cloth and use litres of water - make sure the bench is scraped free of debris first so a good wipe is enough to clean it with no rinsing.
23. Become a water Nazi. If there is a tap running without a container underneath it or for no other good reason, yell and persecute!
24. Reward children conserving water. They are really imaginative and can come up with great ideas most adults can't comprehend.