Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
A way to water despite restrictions CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mandatory water restrictions are in place for nearly every county in our region. But there is a way to water your plants without ever turning on the faucet. It’s a water conserving measure that can make us all ‘water wise.’
With a rain barrel, you have your own source of rain water and best of all the rain water is free. It refills and keeps your plants up.
“The rain is free, you pay for the water that comes out of the tap and we have restrictions of the amount of water we can use,” Water Quality Educator Jennifer Krupowicz said.
The rain barrels have a small screen covering the opening to keep the bugs out and the containers are dark to keep out the sunlight, discouraging the growth of algae.
The 60 or 80 gallon rain barrels are now on sale at a reduced rate. It’s a joint project between Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm Water Services and Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District. The company, Rain Barrel USA, is out of Waxhaw.
The deadline to order a rain barrel is Jan. 14. Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District is also selling tree seedlings on Jan. 28. This will take place at the Hal Marshall Building (700 N. Tryon St. Charlotte) from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. These are small trees that are dormant in the winter and don’t require much water right now.
To get an order form for the rain barrels, click here.
