Smoking ban in pubs and clubs will save water

How many times have you been our at a pub or night club only to wake up the next morning (somewhere) stinking of cigarette smoke?  Your hair and clothes smell like you’re a two pack a day smoker. The fist thing I do the morning after is throw all my clothes in the wash then take a long shower making sure I wash my hair twice to remove the stench.

This may be drawing a long bow, but given careful consideration, might the recent ban on smoking in Victorian pubs, with other states soon to follow, help save water?  I know if my jeans are relatively stain free and not smelling like a pack of Malbro’s the morning after, I’m more than happy to give them another ware.

Think of the thousands of ash trays that no longer have to be washed out at the end of the night by the bar staff down at your local.  Who know how much water banning smoking in pubs will save.

Washing clothes less to save water

I come from a family of compulsive clothes washers. Take my sister for example; she’s a ware once wash once kind of girl.  Well what if we all became a little more conscious of what we throw into the wash basket?  I’m not suggesting you ware your undies two days in a row, I’m just suggesting we be a little less stringent with our clothes washing regime.  But if you really must wash your clothes religiously, do the planet a favor and wash with a front loading washing machine.

PM Announces Water and Energy Aaving Vouchers for Schools

Prime Minister John Howard today announced that the government would offer Australian Schools a $50,000 voucher to in assist in the instillation of solar hot water systems and water tanks.

The Environment minister Malcolm Turnbull also told ABC radio there would be a $1000 assistance package for families earning less than $100,000 to replace existing electric hot water systems to a solar.

Check out the full story in The Australian.

Transporting large quatities of water in bladders

Brisbane physicist Dr Ian Edmonds has had a novel idea for transporting water from rain soaked North Queensland down to the drier regions of South East Queensland and NSW.  Dr Edmonds has suggested floating large volumes of fresh water down the Australian east coast in large plastic bladders.  With the natural current that flows from north to south down the East Coat of Australia, Edmonds suggests it would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than desalination plants or pipelines.

I think we need more novel thinking like this to solve our water woes and to solve the global warming crisis we’re facing.

Rebate for water saving products in Victoria

The Victorian State Government has announced that water saving rebates will expand to include new water saving products.

New water saving products and services to be included in the rebate scheme will include:

• Hot water recirculating device, such as the Chili Peper hot water recycler, that recycles cold water until back to the hot water service until it becomes hot.
• Showerhead rebates have been extended to two per household. A $10 rebate is available for a showerhead costing between $30 and $100 or a $20 rebate is available for showerheads costing over $100.

These products have also been added to the basket of goodies for which you can claim the rebate:

• rainwater diverters – redirect water from downpipes to your garden or rainwater tank;
• waterless car cleaning products
• shower timers
• toilet flush interrupter device – toilet stops flushing as soon as button released.

A $30 rebate is available for the above basket of goods when the purchase of one or more products with a combined value of $100 or more is made.

Check out www.ourwater.vic.gov.au for further details.