Parched

Well, I haven't written for a few days as you may have noticed. The official reason is that I have been quite busy and a few things changed in my schedule last week that made it difficult to fit blogging in. You know how it goes. But there is something else that has made sitting down and writing this blog even more difficult. I bought a bottle of water. Yes, after I went on and on about how we just have to stop buying this stuff, what did I do? I bought a bottle of water.

It was at a theater. As usual, I hadn't been anywhere close to the daily requirement of water and I was parched. Here's the conversation between me and the guy at the snack table.
Me: "Do you have any juice?"
Him: "No"
Me: (Pointing to a bottle I didn't recognize) "What is that?"
Him: Water. (He gets one from the fridge)
Me: Oh. Do you guys have a water fountain?
Him: No (He opens the bottle of water) If we had a water fountain, we couldn't sell bottled water.
Me: (Awkward laugh)
Him: I know. We're a bunch of dirty capitalists here. (He hands me the opened bottle of water) That will be three dollars.

Then next thing I knew, I was crouched in a corner drinking this bottle of water with my cookie, hoping I could finish it before my friend (who reads this blog) came out of the ladies room. As you know, I mess up. My only penance is transparency on this blog and the promise that I will continue to try and not mess up, especially after I get really preachy!

Is this a bad time to give an assignment? Probably, but I'll do it anyway. I have been given the task of writing about conserving water at work. Now, much of what I have in mind has to do with transferring what I do at home to the work place. As you may or may not know, I work from home. Sure, I've had plenty of office jobs, but that workplace mentality kind of goes out the window when you spend some days working in pajamas while doing a mud mask. So, I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for conserving water as it applies to the workplace. Any thoughts???

The New Styrofoam

I've had this bottle of Fiji water sitting on my desk for the last few weeks. It's just sitting there. I almost caved one day and brought it in the car with me to drink. It was sitting in my cupboard since before starting this blog (there are a couple more from the six pack I had bought way back when). But I couldn't open it because I didn't want to go back to this blog and have to write about how I broke my own rule. So, it's sitting there. And being a writer, I spend a lot of time at my desk not writing (any writer can explain that one). So the other day I actually read the back of the bottle.

"The purest water comes from the purest clouds. Our rainfall is purified by trade winds as it travels across the Pacific Ocean to the islands of Fiji. A continent away from acid rain and other polutants, Fiji Water is preserved and protected by one of the last virgin ecosystems on Earth."

So I went to Fijigreen.com to learn more about their water and about the company going green. Their goals sound great. Reducing CO2 emissions, 50% renewable energy sources by 2010, and setting goals to be "carbon negative." Awesome, right? But just as I was about to crack open the bottle and toast to a brighter, more convenient future where I don't have to remember to keep refilling the pitcher of water in my refrigerator, I thought about something. We're talking about water. WATER! You know, the stuff that comes out of the sink. How much CO2 does a sink give off? Anyone, anyone...?

I don't mean to pick on Fiji. Sorry cute little Fiji with those adorable little post-it drawings on your website, illustrating all the different CO2 emitting steps it took to get this bottle of water to sit on my desk and stare at me. The truth is, that it's not their fault. It's ours. We're buying it.

I was at someone's house for dinner (no, I'm not going to mention names) and the person had set the table with styrofoam (spelling???) plates. Yes, stirofoam (another attempt at spelling). Is it more accurate to say polystyrene? Anyway, everyone sitting at the table said something (the relationships at the table were too close knit to let a little thing like disposable dinnerware ruin them). The host was embarrassed even before the ridicule, but kept saying, "I've had these plates for so long, what am I supposed to do with them?" Good point, but she will likely never buy them again. I want this to happen with bottled water. I want there to come a day where someone is drinking bottled water and everyone around them says, "what the heck are you doing???" First things first - stop buying bottled water.

A Little Bubbly

I keep forgetting to write about this, but I saw the coolest thing. I'm so not a gadget person, so many many things I see are cool to me, but as one who thinks about water all the time, this was a winner. I usually don't drink sparkling water because I don't want to buy a lot of bottled drinks. But when I went to this friends house, she asked me if I wanted some and proceeded to go to this little appliance with a container full of water from her tap. She just lifted a whatsit, pressed a thingy, waited about 5 seconds and wah-la! (pardon my French) Sparkling water!

Now, don't tell my dad, but I think I'm going to get one of these things for him for his birthday (His birthday was in the beginning of January - better late than never). Like I said, I don't buy sparkling water, and I don't recommend many products on this blog because I don't believe you should have to spend oodles of money to save water. But my parents buy so much sparkling water and my father drinks it by the gallon right out of the bottles. If you like sparkling water, I highly recommend it. Here are some links to these gadgets:
Soda Stream
Penguin Water Carbonator
Sparkling Water Kit

Bottoms Up

Do you drink enough water? I don't. There, I said it. I am constantly behind on my water drinking, along with a million other things. Why is that? I don't always remember the world being after me to drink so much water. When did this start anyway. And who started it? My husband calls me "The Camel" because I seem to need so little of it. The truth is, it feels like a job to keep track of how many darn glasses I'm drinking. And hard as I tried to look for a reputable site to tell me all that 8 glasses of water a day stuff is for the birds (you know, all those birds who think they know everything), it looks like I'm out of luck. I just have to accept that I'm in the wrong. I have to do better...

As I try to turn over this new leaf, I do want to make a note for people like me who also are challenged in this area. Whenever I face this challenge by getting the biggest cup I have and filling it to the brim with water, I end up wasting it. It's nice for me to believe in myself to that extent, but I have to say, it doesn't work. Inevitably, the water sits there for a while, gets warm and unappealing and ends up getting tossed. Now, you know me, when I say tossed, that usually means the watering can or in a pot that needs to be soaked. But as much as I hate to admit it, it does sometimes end up in a place close to the sink that rhymes with pain.

So, the best thing to do, for those of you who are water challenged with me, is to pour smaller cups for yourself (or a smaller amount in a big cup, whatever...) and drink it all down before filling it back up. There's nothing like successfully finishing a glass of water, or knowing that you have put that water to good use... giving you the perfect excuse to ditch work for a much needed bathroom break!

What You Can Do

A little cross promotion here... check out What You Can Do and click on water conservation for ideas that I never thought of!

Rinse!

I think we can officially say that all of you who read this blog, friends and strangers alike, know way more than you'd probably care to about my daily habits (and worries). Well, just when you thought I couldn't drag you in any further... here's one for you:

Last night, before bed, my husband was leaving the bathroom as I was going in and I started spraying my toothbrush with... gosh, I think my spray bottle needs a name - any suggestions? So I'm wetting the toothbrush and I said to Aaron, "Um, have you been using the spray bottle?" I knew he hadn't because, well, because of the way he looks at me when I do it!" He looks at me like a deer in the headlights (a look I don't see on his face that often), "I ration water when I do it. I ration it. I'm very careful. I really don't use that much." And the door closed with me standing there, spray bottle in one hand, toothbrush in the other. Looks like I have a new goal - Husband - meet spray bottle!

I will say, he's a little bit right, the spray bottle is a tough one (Don't tell him I said that!) Ever notice that if you don't use lots of water to rinse your mouth when you brush your teeth, your mouth feels even more disgusting than it did when you woke up? Well, I tried using the spray bottle to rinse my mouth instead of the sink. The spray bottle doesn't cut it.

I don't usually keep a cup in my bathroom for rinsing because inevitably, it gets really toothpasty, and I really don't want to use it more than once. I don't know why I can't bring myself to do it. Lord knows I use the same water glass for days on end to use fewer dishes and save water. But somehow, I always go back to either cupping my hand or putting my mouth right under the faucet (yes, I'm a lady). I know it's only a few drops, but I run the water so little in the bathroom now that I feel like the Thelma and Louise of water savers. "Keep Going!"

I do actually rinse my mouth with all natural mouthwash after I brush my teeth... so, when I run out this time, instead of recycling, I'm just going to fill it with water and use the cap to pour the bit of water that I need to rinse. No run off... no waste.

The person that I probably am going to be able to count on to get on board with this is the other man in my life: my son. I still have not used the spray bottle on him because of, once again, my worst enemy in all of this, HABIT! Two things I know about this... 1. The kid's gonna think this is hysterical, fun and a very important job (so important, I know he's going to insist on doing it himself) 2. This will become second nature to him.