The Cost of Conservation - Which way is best?

We like you try to do our litle bit to help,we recycle the things that can be recycled and cut back on things that can be cut back on,we try to use small amounts of paper,and we dont waste much in the way of food.Im sure that most families all try to do the same,I also try hard not to use more water than is necessary,and to re use the water if at all possible.

Ok here goes. First SAVE WATER IN CONTAINERS, clean water in clean containers. DONT WATER PLANTS IN THE MORNING (THE PLANTS THAT GROWS FRUITS OR VEGETABLES THAT YOU EAT, WATER IT WITH CLEAN WATER), this will come in handy with your saving water idea. First the paper napkin or cloth napkin: 1. If you have any clothes that have holes or worn out, use it for cleaning mess, really dirty mess. You dont have to buy cloth napkins, you just save and reuse by doing this. If you need to wash it, get a basin, put water with soap and wash it. DONT THROW THE SOAP WITH WATER. Pour it on plants, not the plants with fruits/vegetables that you harvess and eat. Just the plants that grows with flowers or leaves only. 2. Cloth napkins for drying dishes, clean napkins which you can just dry out in the sun. Use it on drying dishes ONLY. 3. Paper napkins, still buy the cheap ones that you use and use it as how you use it. But dont throw it. Put it a plastic or better yet a container where you can put biodegradable stuffs, like leftover foods that wil be thrown away. Put it outside and put soil in it, but small amount of soil only. Do this everyday - BIODEGRADABLE STUFFS, SOIL then BIODEGRADABLE STUFFS, SOIL. If the container is full, dug a hole in your backyard and pour the stuffs inside the container. And do the same thing again. Paper napkins came from trees, together with other biodegradable stuffs with soil. This could be a source of soil full of nutrients that can help plants grow. Ohh dont forget to pour a cup of water (dirty or clean) into the container. 4. Your washing idea with plates, DONT USE PAPER PLATES. It could just add to pile of garbage that you will throw. Use plates which are ceramics. Wash it through the -basin, pour water that came from the container, pour dirty water on plants. Same idea with what is above.

Well, it really comes about to more or less the same thing. Water is recyclable too, over and over again. THink about it this way, only a very minor part of the water diverted from nature to our uses is actually consumed. The most part is released back into the water cycle to be filtered, treated and used again and again.Whatever water goes down our drains finds its way to treatment plants and then it's released back again to join the cycle. A small - or not so small percentage depending on the point of view - that evaporates from lakes/rivers/oceans comes back to us trough rain. THe major problems with lack of water come from heavy populations in places where there are no current water - rivers, lakes , oceans etc and to make it worse have low precipitation rates. Now think about trees. Sure they can be replaced/replanted... and they will need water to grow, the same water you saved by using the paper plate instead of the one you can wash :) So in the end it really is about the same. That said, yes, we - as the people living on earth - and in the areas where we can, are using water indiscriminately, wasting water etc., but in regards to your question, about replacing a tree or water it's more or less the same. Sure it's a good idea to try and use water responsibly.The same as anything where we can make a difference. Using dishwashers and washing machines/dryers during the night away from the peak use of electricity , using them only when they are filled to capacity,recycling and reusing all that we can, whenever possible buy things that have less packaging, try to use proven homemade cleaning products instead of the more convenient but not so safe commercial ones - I do a lot of my cleaning with baking soda, vinegar etc -and most of all - which is something that people forget when they talk environment - not to succumb blindly to this consumerism that makes people buy things they don't need, buy things that are so convenient but are not reusable so they have to keep buying and throwing out and buying and throwing out.We are making more garbage nowadays not only because we're more but because we're throwing out things earlier than we did before - years back people would buy a tv and have it for almost a life time,they would keep their car for years and years and it would be in ship shape condition even after all those years... are the manufacturers trying to tell me that with all the advances we are going backwards and can't build things that last? No, what they're telling me is that they want to build things that don't last so we can keep buying them - and consequently throwing them out - over and over again.

I honestly would rather save money and I do things to do that! Sure I recycle and care about the environment but I don't go overboard. I use my dishwasher as I have 4 people to feed and use a bunch of dishes when I cook. I bought a car that was more fuel effecient and don't drive as much as I used to because of the cost of gas not really because of the fact that oil could run out and is running out. I guess I should probably be more concerned about the environment but I have bigger fish to fry in my life than that. Like being able to feed my kids with rising costs of everything, etc...I do like paper plates, less dishes and they are biodegradable anyway right? Have a great day!

The part you may be missing by using the paper is not that its killing trees the problem here is the carbon print to cut the tree mill the tree form the paper package the paper and ship the paper and then imagine that in the millions I use cloth not to save a tree but to save the carbon footprint that comes with products that have this much processing. This is also why it is better to buy anything you can that is made local and with as little packaging as possible. As far as water consumption goes there are ways to minimize your use such as a rain catching systems and High Effeciancy washers. Just some food for thought. As long as you are trying then your a part of the salution.