When water becomes a luxury

Living in a dry climate, and coming originally from a country where rain is described as "bad weather", you really get to appreciate rainfall. I'm kind of ashamed now that in the past, I used to call rainy weather "bad weather" too. Now I really do know better! Dry climates can be challenging in and of itself, but what if the rainfall ceases even more? And what if that happens already five years in a row? Well, that's when you've got a problem. 

This is what happens here now and it affects people in so many ways. The most noticeable, of course, is that the prices of produce have gone up tremendously. Not only produce though- also the prices of meat, eggs, and all animal products. Which is understandable, but the thing is that the majority of people living in this country aren't particularly well of financially so it's defenitely a challenge for a lot of people to get some simple groceries these days. Another way how it affects people is the water supply inside: in most areas, the tap water is off from 9 PM to 4 AM (or something like that). Fortunately for us, in our area we nearly always can use our tap water without any problems, although the water stream at times might be weak. But, at least we have water and don't have to worry about collecting enough buckets of water etc. So we're very grateful for that. The government has set a few rules for people for being frugal with the water, like not washing cars for the time being (which I find a bit silly, to be honest- usually people don't wash their car everyday, so it would be much more effective to advise not to take long showers, not washing up the dishes with running water, etc. But that's just my opinion.) I really don't understand how a government should even warn people to be careful not to use too much water. To me, it's just something logical. Even more so when there's such a scarcity of this precious resource. But apparently this doesnt work like that with other people I guess, so the government has laid out guidelines for what to do (and what not to) with water. 

Most people don't realise this, but even though it's a necessity, water can really become a luxury. Despite the current situation, I think it's a good thing to be reminded of the luxury of a tap with running water. 

For the past few weeks, however, it has started to rain! How wonderful is that! It's amazing how after all these months it's raining almost daily. My new "problem" is to squish all the laundry on our limited line drying space on the days that it isn't raining. But that's a problem I do want to take for granted in such a situation. Despite the rain, we still try to conserve as much water as we can. Even if it does rain now, the problem with drought isn't solved overnight, so it's still very important to be grateful for what we have and as a consequence, being very frugal with water. 

Doing laundry frugally

Laundry... Another chore that most of us are not particularly bothered to do, myself included. But still, your clothes need to get clean. Fortunately, there a quite a few tricks you can put into practice to make doing laundry somewhat easier, more frugal and greener. Here's a few ways of how I try to conserve our precious resources while cleaning our wash. 

Make your clothes last longer

This is probably the #1 tip one could get. Especially when it comes to the environment- as clothes aren't necessarily that expensive, especially if you're like me and shop at thrift stores. Anyway, here's a few things to make our clothes last longer. 

First of all, what we do is we wear our clothes multiple days. I know that most people are grossed out by this but if you think about it: even if you'd wear freshly laundered clothes every day, even after 15 minutes they'd be "dirty" already. Your bacteria are there from the moment you put the fabric onto your skin. Of course, there are items that need to be changed every day, like underwear. But not every item needs to be changed that often. Especially during the winter when you're wearing multiple layers of clothing (to avoid heating up the house too much), the outer layers won't need a wash that often. Too much washing will do no good for your laundry. I do own some items for years already, which is most likely due to the fact that they won't get washed that quickly. 

If you're wearing synthetics, this is especially important because everytime synthetics are being washed they'll release microplastics. Less washing simply means less microplastics! Taking care of your clothes means washing your delicates by hand too. 

Using a dryer is detrimental for most fabrics, too. Line drying is the optimal way of drying laundry! While some people live in a climate that doesn't allow them to line dry year round, for a lot of people it is doable. Did you know that even if it's freezing outside, you can even "freeze dry" your laundry? Fortunately, I live in a country with a dry climate where it's warm for most part. We do have a short winter but usually it's not freezing. Since it's a dry climate we have little rain. During the winter we do have to hang the laundry somewhat earlier so that at the end of the day it's dry, making it less convenient than line drying during the summer... But still, doable. To make drying outside during the winter season easier, I sometimes use an extra spinning cycle. This really works well. 

Instead of line drying outside, using a clothes drying rack is an alternative to a dryer. This is somewhat tricky because you don't want your house to get humid. Providing you have the room and you don't have multiple loads of laundry every day, this is an option if the weather doesn't allow line drying outside. 

If this all isn't an option for you and the dryer needs to be used, be sure to put a dry towel with your wet laundry. Apparently, this makes drying much quicker! (Or so I've heard at least- don't hold me accountable ;))

To prevent your clothes from fading while drying in the sun is important too. This will keep your clothes in a good condition longer! So get them inside when they're dried- no reason to keep them in the sun longer than necessary. And dry the clothes inside out, if possible. 

Saving precious resources while doing laundry

With all the conveniences and luxuries these days, one can quickly forget that washing a load of clothes actually uses quite a lot water. If you own a "standard" washer, all this water will be washed away, into the sewage. Where I live, there are still many people who don't own a regular washer. Instead they have a semi automatic machine, which basically means that the washer and spinner are separated from each other. The rinsing needs to be done by hand, using a large bucket or a washing tub. The water also won't be washed away automatically, so most people will use that water for flushing the toilet, and the rinsing water for mopping the floor. That alone saves a lot of water! 

I do own a "regular" washer and not a semi automatic washer, because I have quite a few health issues and it seems to be more work to me. But I'll acknowledge that owning of a washer that does EVERYTHING for me is quite a luxury. I know that many people in the west take these things for granted, and it's totally fine to own these luxurious things. But at least I will acknowledge the fact that these still are luxuries. Anyway, back to the topic. You can actually do quite a lot of things to save water, even if you have a fully automatic washer. 

I've read that by using your towel after showering twice instead of once, you'll already save thousands of litres of water! Which brings me back to my nr. 1 tip of wearing clothes more often, because the same thing is true for clothes. So this is a way we're saving thousands of litres water: by using most items multiple times. Saving water doesn't seem to bother most people. After all, water is free or nearly free. But is it? Where we live, water is quite expensive. We live in a drought stricken country so the government tries hard to make people use less water- and by increasing the price, that surely works. But even if water is free where you live, it's still better to be frugal with your water use for environmental reasons. Water is a precious resource and only so much of the water we have on this earth is actually suitable for human consumption, so it's a shame that so much of that actually will be poured into the sewage! 

If you have an eco setting on your machine, this could save water too. I say *could*, because in some cases,  this will only save you somewhat on electricity. I personally don't use the eco setting. It lasts quite long and I don't feel like waiting for almost three hours just so I can go and hang my laundry, with the risk of having a blackout in between, which happens a lot where we live. Instead, I use the short 45 minutes cycle if it's just clothes. 

Another way we save water is that I quit doing an "extra rinse". It was something I was just used to do I guess, but why? I'm not sure. In most cases, that extra rinse is totally unnecessary. Most people use the extra rinse because they follow the "recommended" amount of laundry detergent, which is, in my opinion, overdosing big time. An easy way to avoid the extra rinse is by decreasing the amount of detergent you use! 

When it comes to electricity, there's also a lot you can save. If you follow my advice on laundering less often, you're already saving quite a lot electricity. 

What uses the most electric, though, is the temperature of the water. Be sure to wash your clothes as cold as possible. Not only is this better for your clothes, it saves a lot of money too! We still do wash on 60° c (a hot cycle), but only things like sheets, towels, cleaning rags and the likes. Washing on a hot cycle sometimes is necessary for your washer too, especially when you use liquid detergent. We use powdered detergent though, as it's much cheaper here, and has no heavy fragrance (I can't stand most of those smells). 

Other things you can do 

I think we've all heard about making your own detergent. Most of these recipes contain either borax or washing soda or both. Unfortunately, these are not available where I live. But when I still lived in Europe and money was very tight for us, I sometimes made my own detergent. It's quite easy and VERY cheap; about a few cents per use! So if you have a lot of laundry, making your own detergent is a wise thing to do. 

Swapping laundry softener for vinegar is another great way to save money and the environment. And no, your clothes won't smell vinegar-y, I promise! 

Last but not least is the maintenance of your machine. Be sure you do an empty load on a very hot cycle once every few months. It might sound like a huge waste for the ultimate frugal person. But this really can avoid a lot of damage being done to your washer, which would avoid a lot of extra money for a repairman, thus being something frugal in the end. I usually add one tablet of dishwasher detergent. I don't own a dishwasher, but I purchased a box of these tabs especially for my washing machine. 

Also, and this is for the front load folks: I never ever use the drawer, other than for the vinegar. My drawer looks like brand new! I always put my powdered detergent directly into the machine, which works great. With my old washer, I remember that it was such a hassle to get out that drawer, let alone cleaning it.