Earth Girls Are Easy: If It’s Brown…

If It’s Brown, Flush It Down

If it’s yellow, let it mellow

If it’s brown, flush it down

If we have guests, give it a rest

Sophie Says:

The last part is mine. I had to explain to Zoe that while we don’t mind peeing on her pee, other people might. Gross? Maybe. Worth it? To me, yes.

If it's brown, flush is down.

This week’s R is Reduce, as in reducing or conserving how much water we use.

Toilets from the ’80s averaged 3.5 gallons per flush and toilets made today only use 1.6 gallons per flush! That’s great, but think about how many trips you take to the bathroom a day – let’s just say five. IF you have a low flow toilet, that’s 8 gallons a day, per person. With my family of four (and yes, I count the baby’s potty dumps) that is 32 gallons a day! Although our toilet uses 1.6 gallons per flush, I still wanted to do my part to use less water. I’m not going to state how little we flush (don’t want to gross anyone out) so let’s just say we save A LOT of water!

40 gallons down the drain!

Originally we looked for a dual flush toilet, but it wasn’t in the budget. The idea is great. You push button Number One for numbers ones and button Number Two for…um, number twos. Number ones use .8 gallons and number twos use the full 1.6 gallons.

Dual Flush Toilet

Nina Says:

Finally! A conservation technique I’m on top of! We already do this in my house except we call it, “I don’t care if it’s brown, yellow, green, or blue you won’t flush that toilet if you know what’s good for you. I don’t care if we have guests or not, you flush and wake my baby, your ass will be hot.”

Sophie Says:

Check your toilet to see how much water it uses per flush. It should be printed between the tank and the seat. If you don’t have a low flow toilet, but don’t want to subscribe to the Mellow Yellow Method, there are a few other ways you can reduce your toilet flow.

Placing a plastic bottle filled with sand or pebbles in your tank will displace the water during each flush and save a half gallon to a gallon at a time. Don’t worry — your toilet can flush perfectly fine with less water. I have also heard that you can use a brick the same way, but don’t recommend it because they can disintegrate and lead to plumbing problems.

Nina Says:

OK, I just checked my toilet and it’s kinda faded. It’s either 16 gallons or 1.6. I’ma go with 1.6.

When we first discussed this blog a few weeks ago, it was Donny that mentioned the plastic bottle trick. I’m willing to give it a shot. Other water conservation tips we practice at home include letting our leftover ice melt in our beverage classes and then using it to water the houseplants, turning off the water when we brush, the aforementioned “mellow yellow (and then some)” method, and of course, the occasional co-bathing.

FYI: A basic dual-flush toilet can be had from Home Depot for a little less than $300, and for as much as $1,000 from Kohler directly.

Nina and Sophie Say:

So the next time you go to a friend’s house and you see a whole lot more in the toilet than you needed to see, don’t be judgy. They might be saving the earth OR have a sleeping baby in the house.

Homework: If you want to try some of these tips, some of your own that you share below, or some that others might share, report your experience on our next EGAE blog. For those of you with a monthly water bill, if you try some water conservation tips, share your any difference you on your next bill.

Disclaimer: The views and ideas expressed here are for entertainment purposes only. Feel free to use any of these ideas yourself, but if you mess up your toilet, that’s on you. This is just how WE roll.

Earth Girls Are Easy: The Four Rs

Nina Says:

Sophie is the most environmentally friendly person I know. In fact, she and the environment are BFF’s. Me? Not so much. My heart is in the right place and I mean well, it’s just I don’t always do the things I know I should. One of my three new year’s resolutions was to try and be as environmentally responsible as possible – do the best I can, when I can. And for that I, of course, looked to Sophie who makes being green look oh so easy.

She often scolds me. Like the other day:

Nina: I have this free trial of PowerPoint on my new laptop, but I only get a few uses before it runs out. I use it a lot for Biology class, so what I think I’m going to do is keep it open the whole semester.

Sophie: How can you leave it open the whole semester? Don’t you have to shut your laptop down at night?

Nina: Uh, I do?

Sophie: NINA!

My bad. I just don’t think about things like that. And now I imagine myself like a huge Godzilla trouncing around the Earth oblivious to the damage in my wake. Sophie tells me getting started is easy and all I have to do is think of the Three Rs.

Nina: Um, Recycle, Reuse… and what else?

Sophie: It’s Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, and you have to put them in that order.

Nina: Why?

Below, Sophie explains why.

Sophie Says:

First off, let me just say that as much as I would like to take credit for single-handedly saving the Earth, I can’t. I am merely just a woman. One woman doing her part to make this world a better place for her children and yours.

Now the three Rs are as follows:

Reduce: reducing  the number of items that you consume.

Reuse: using an item in another way to extend its life.

Recycle: sending that item to the big recycling center in the sky, to be reincarnated later as something else. But remember, recycling requires energy, WAY more energy than the other two Rs.

Think of it in terms of best, better, and good.

Nina Says:

We’re gonna add a fourth R, because we can. Remember. If you’re anything like me, you’ll need help remembering to put some of Sophie’s suggestions into practice.

Sophie Says:

This week we’re gonna talk about reducing waste and one way to do that is by BYOB to the grocery store and every store. When I go to the grocery store or Farmers Market, I always take my grocery bags. I have about eight. When I go to the mall, I always have my cute little tote. I’m not one of those people who collect reusable bags from every store that offers them, because that kind of defeats the purpose.

I wasn’t always so diligent, but I got the hang of it and now it’s like second nature. I pull into my parking spot, take the bags out, then take the babies out. I put them (the bags, not the babies) in the hull of the cart and shop responsibly, all the while mindful of excess packaging. (Reduce, remember?)

Some markets even offer a small discount per bag (that you use) on your groceries if you use your own. Shoprite offers a 10 cent discount per bag, so if you bring five bags but only use three to pack your groceries, that’s 30 cents off your total purchase. Every little bit helps, right?

The bags I sent to Nina

I’ve had the same bags for about three years and don’t need or plan on getting anymore. For those of you who think that plastic bags aren’t so bad or you use them to line your small trash cans, or scoop your dog’s poop, here’s a little nugget. Plastic bags are not biodegradable, they photodegrade, which means they break down into tiny toxic bits that eventually make their way into our food chain.

I don't eat turtle, but I'm sure somebody does.

Nina Says:

Yes, Sophie sent me those bags like two years ago. How sweet, right? Well, ask me how long it took me to use them? Hey, don’t judge me! This whole going green thing takes some getting used to.

Remember tip: Keep them in your car. Always. Once I got past Donny’s irrational refusal to use them, we began keeping them in the trunk of the car… and we still forgot to use them. You know, out of sight and all that. So, we began keeping a few in the backseat or passenger seat.

Also, without having to be asked or told, Donny began to use them when returning and picking up library books, taking Kali to my parents’ house, running errands with lots of stuff, etc.

Occasionally, we’ll get weird looks from people in the market, but a judgmental look from them to their plastic bag, and back to them with an, “Earth killer” thrown in for good measure, and that usually puts an end to that.

You can purchase your own bags at most local grocery stores for about 99 cents, or you can purchase them online. While you wait for them to arrive, you can use canvas totes that you have around the house. Sophie doesn’t think you should order online because they have to be shipped and that’s another waste of resources. She’s good, huh?

Every other Thursday Sophie will be sharing her mother nature protection tips, and I’ll report on how well (hopefully) I’m doing. You can post any green tips and ideas you may have that week’s particular topic. If we work together, perhaps we can save our planet from being shot to shit.

So, do you have reusable bags? Do you use them? Any funny stories to share? What reactions have you had when you’ve used them? If you don’t use them, can you pledge to try and use them for the next two weeks until the next Earth Girls Are Easy blogs and report back on your progress?