No Plans

You know those people who go through life without a plan? Just make it up as they go? And when life goes awry they expect someone else to come along and flip them over? The following is a perfect example of bad planning. The turtle must have believed the water would always be there. But what if someone pulls the plug? What if the water runs out?

We filled the pool back up and Mr. Red-eared Slider flipped himself back over. He probably could have done so without the water. Turtles have long, strong necks and are quite flexible.

What will we do when the water runs out? There are over 6 million people in south Florida. Most of our drinking water comes from an shallow aquifer that is recharged by rainwater. If we continue to consume more water than is replaced in the aquifer we face certain ecological disaster. Some have suggested we need to sacrifice so that the environment might benefit. I disagree. I think we simply need to live responsibly. Here's a few ways (from the South Florida Water Management District) and they work pretty much anywhere you may live.

• plant native vegetation that does require excessive watering. Fabulous, lush green lawns are still the costly, wasteful norm and people get so upset when it browns
• wash your car less often. If you use a car wash - make sure they recycle water
• make sure your home is free from leaky pipes and dripping faucets - one drop per second wastes 2700 gallons of water a year. Plus the dripping is torturous
• since I replaced the flapper on the toilet the water bill has been halved each month
• get out of the shower sooner and use a low-flow showerhead. 4 out 5 people are clean within the first 4 minutes.
• collect water during your shower to water your plants. Don't pee in the bucket.
• turn the water off while you brush your teeth. or don't brush your teeth. I'd rather someone was toothless than have them waste water.
• Don't flush just because you tossed a bug in the toilet. Come on! ("But it was a spider") They will crawl back up.
• use a rain barrel to collect water for other uses. My family did this when I was younger except it was to collect water that was coming through a hole in the roof.
• ask restaurants to only serve water on request or simply don't go to restaurants that put water out for every guest.
• Encourage responsible growth in your community that minimizes paved surfaces that prevent water from percolating into the aquifer.

The water will run out at the rate we are going. There are far too many people here and most have bad habits. It's not a sacrifice to do any of the above. It's simply responsible. We have to plan for today and tomorrow or we end up turned over on our shell and sitting in the sun.

Have other water saving ideas? Press the COMMENTS button on the bottom of the page.

Resurrection of the Zombie

It's never really dead - so Resurrection Fern is a misnomer. Call it Zombie Fern. Even that would be a sensationalist's attempt at sprucing up botany, as Zombies are neither alive nor dead. But this little fern has the amazing ability to go from a lifeless, desiccated appearance to a vibrant healthy green with just a little rainfall. They can in fact go years without water but how often does that happen?

I mention this because it just rained. The hyperbolists - not to be confused with the herbalists have suggested we're in the worst drought in 50 years. We've had 3+ inches of rain in the last 36 hours - equaling the accumulated amount of rain since October. The Resurrection Fern will therefore be splayed out in all of its verdant glory. The picture above - taken on Sunday, is a fallen cypress tree covered with dried up fronds. The picture below is the same tree looking fantastic after just a little rain.

During the drought we've been necessarily shackled with serious water restrictions, but when hyperbolists and sensationalists collide, the ensuing media frenzy over a rare winter rain storm can only mean that an uneducated public will feel emboldened to get out there a wash their cars and water their lawns even before the last raindrops have fallen.

3 inches of rain means we're now only 5 inches below average. So Floridians - put the hose down and step away from the slip and slide. And bathroom bullies do not in fact have the go ahead to give that swirly.

The Resurrection Fern can tough out this drought, but until we're flush with freshwater in our aquifers we need to maintain a descent level of water-use moderation.

As a wise child once suggested to me - "Save water - drink more soda."

Waterlogged: The Magic Toilet

One of the differences between Vermont and Florida other than the sun, the heat, the traffic, the development, the flat land, the beaches, the alligators and Walgreens on every corner is the fact you have to pay for water. Pardon my naivete if anyone pays for water in Vermont. I never did in the 10 years I lived there...

I'm fine with it. I think we should pay more for it. I think there will be a day when we have wars over fresh water as we already have annual droughts and severe water restrictions. But I figure the more people have to pay for it, the more likely they will conserve it.

• You can turn the water off when you brush your teeth
• You can wash the dishes by hand instead of running the dishwasher
• You can get in the shower and then turn the water on. (Don't try this in Vermont. or with clothes on)
• You can do as Ash & Kate do and not flush the toilet every time - "If it's yellow, let it mellow". Why flush three gallons every time you pee? Be grateful the famous credo of native Montanans has not left the outhouse state - "If it's brown, keep it around."

I've taken to the Mellow Yellow idea and when I moved here in January, I noticed that I had a magic toilet. Pee in it and it disappears after a few minutes. Magic! I tightened all of the valves. Checked for leaks. All was well. My water bill seemed normal until the second bill when the consumption had jumped from 40 gallons a day to 70! 40 seemed outrageous. I blamed my sister for a few of those gallons from when she came to visit (and I still do so, especially since she no longer reads the blog due to her impending childbirth. What is up with pregnant women....can't go to the Everglades at night, can't read my blog). So I checked with maintenance who said - no leak...I'm apparently just wasting water. So when the next bill arrived at it was 84 gallons a day I said no way. Come check the magic toilet again.

They came out again and apparently had not noticed the leaky flap. The maintenance guy told me most apartments have the faulty flap. No big deal. It's a huge deal! I made him change it and asked how many other apartments needed to be changed.

The landlords were still skeptical and had me wait 2 more months to see how the water bill would change. What do you know, I'm back down to 42 gallons a day. They made maintenance change hundreds of toilet flaps.

By my crude calculations, my apartment was responsible for the waste of 9600 gallons of water in 4 months time. If 200 people had the same issue (and there are 2000 people in this complex), than that is 1,920,000 gallons of water wasted during one of Florida's worst droughts. I can't say they would not have fixed the issue if I had not complained, but I'd like to think a little credit can be given to the magic toilet.