Essentials Revisited

[degringolade]

 

 Realism / Jean-Francois Millet/ Woman Hanging Her Laundry

Been pondering some odd things lately.  

Until the rains came, we had been having a bit of an extended dry spell here on the land of soggy.  The Willamette is as low as I can remember and the upstream is even dryer than it is here.  So when Oregon/Washington and the Columbia drainage is seeing the effects of the drought that we are in the middle of, things must be pretty damn bad elsewhere.

Water use is a strange thing to discuss here in the USA.  Wasting water is as essential to the currently approved lifestyle as wasting fossil fuels.  I am (was) as bad at this as anyone.  But considering the hoops that look to be ahead of us, I am thinking that our profligate use of water and energy will need to be curtailed in the near future.  So I am working out the details now.

Outside of the foolishness of watering a lawn, the main uses for water are for cleaning self, cooking, and clothing.  I would put in the water used to actually cook, but truthfully, that is pretty minimal.  So I am pondering the water requirements needed for cleaning. 

Washing dishes for me is the easiest call.  Since the rental company just had a new dishwasher put in, a full load of dishes takes around four gallons and if I were to do them in the sink, it would probably take around twenty gallons (give or take).  This is due to the ability of a dishwasher to hide dishes until it is full and that equals several loads of dishes done in the sink.  I am not certain about the energy differential, but the water seems to pencil out pretty firmly on the side of the dishwasher.  I am happy about this.

Washing clothes is more problematic.  Best I can figure it is twenty gallons a load.  I am thinking that this is where I can do a lot of damage to the water use numbers.  I am over maintaining “good” clothes.  I wear denim every day and t-shirts are de rigueur.  I no longer dress for success.  If TPTB don’t like it, I am officially at the “fuck you then” stage of my career. 

So I think I will do a bit of study on handwashing clothes.  T-shirts, socks, and levis shouldn’t be that hard to work out.  

Last is personal hygiene.  I am getting away from an extended shower every day as was my habit in the past.  I am working toward a 2-day a week shower with a sink bath every day using good old Dr. Bronner’s and washcloths.  I haven’t heard any complaints from the gallery (and my gallery is a rough crowd and would not hesitate even for a moment to inform me of my need to bathe).  

Comments

3 showers a week

[chefxh]

I wish we had room for a dishwasher, but I am loath to give up any cabinet space for one. These days I am doing the same bathing thing, taking 3 showers during the work week and just washing up otherwise.