Step1
Turn up the heat on your hot water tank. If your hot water tank is turned down low to avoid burning someone, over time you will find that you are waiting longer and longer for your water for showers and baths to get hot. Go to the hot water tank and adjust it enough to make the hot water respond faster without scalding your family members. Let family members know to be careful when washing their hands. It may be a good idea to post signs over sinks.
Step2
Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. Turn on the water, rinse your toothbrush, turn the water off, then put paste on the toothbrush and brush your teeth. Use a paper cup to catch water to rinse your mouth and clean your toothbrush.
Step3
Recycle shower water. Get a washbasin large enough for you to stand in. Instead of letting water go down the drain, catch it in the wash tub and use it to flush the toilet. You can also pour the water into 2 gallon buckets), to water the plants, and to wash the car. Consider using natural soaps.
Step4
Re-use towels. After drying off, hang them on a hook or towel rod and use them several times before laundering.
Step5
Have laundry days. Instead of doing laundry each day as you dirty it, let it collect for a week or two. Then sort all of the clothes into loads (the largest loads your machine will take). On laundry day, also strip all of the beds and wash the sheets together. This will dramatically decrease the amount of water you use to do laundry.
Step6
Be careful when doing dishes. Just like when you brush your teeth, you can scrub your pots with a wet scrubber and soap. You can rinse the pots when they are clean. Also you can make sure your dishwasher is full before running it. If you have to rinse the dishes before loading it into the washer, fill the sink with water and rinse the dishes in that one sink of water.
Step7
Check your toilets for leaks. If you find you have a leaky toilet, turn off the water supply until you get it fixed. To flush the toilet, pour a bucket of recycled water into the toilet. This works the same as flushing.
Step8
Stop nagging your kids to bathe. If your kid hates to bathe every day, don’t force him. Half the time he will just run water down the drain and tell you he bathed anyway. Let him skip a day unless of course he smells dirty. Then run a tub of water and force him in it.
Step9
Don’t let bath water do down the drain. When you and your kids take baths, instead of pulling the stopper and draining the tub, use a two gallon bucket of water and use it to flush the toilet. You can get a full day’s flushes from a tub of water.
Novice 
Comments
KatYares said
on 12/26/2007 Great tips - especially #8 because as a mom of 7, I know it is soooo true.
grouch said
on 12/20/2007 These were some great tips. I can hear the pennies falling every time the kids go to take a bath. The hot water trick works great too. I always have my guardian off but be sure to teach your children to respect the fact that hot means hot.