Apparently not. In drought-prone water-starved Colorado, it is illegal to have a big ol' bucket on your property to use to catch rainwater in order to water your lawn, flowers and vegetables.
Handsome wants to hook up a contraption which would use the rainwater collected to run our washing machine. I thought it was a great idea.
Now I found out it is illegal.
This is the ridiculous truth of the day.
Evidently, there are water rights to rivers and streams in place which by withholding the rain, which may or may not EVER make it to those rivers and streams, would be denied.
Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.
Denver Water has this amazing and creative campaign "Use only what you need." Last week, I was waiting for the bus at the bus stop (imagine that) and a giant toilet came walking down the street, waving to people. The idea was that he was walking, not running, because "running toilets waste water."
Get it?
So, we try to be more green. We try to live sustainably. We even try to do what Denver Water tells us to do, use only what we need.
By reducing, reusing, recycling, we could get fines up to $500 a day. A. DAY.
Wake up Colorado. Your resources depend on it!
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2 comments:
We in the east don't have the "water rights" issues western states do. I'm glad! How amazing that you can't collect rainwater, but I do get it. I read something a while ago explaining the basics of water rights.
Anyway - I love you blog name - very smart! I'm going to add you to my Google Reader. Thanks for coming to visit my blog!
OM! how silly is that law ???
Here in UK we are encouraged to use water Butts (barrels to collect rain water from our roofs/sheds/garages etc) We have two very very large ones and they are ever so useful. I know we are known to get lots of rain in the UK, but even here we are told to reduce our usage and several summers we have had water shortages so no hose pipes/sprinklers allowed!
Have you thought about using your "grey water" for the washing machine/toilet? Basically you use your bath/shower/basin water (not kitchen sink water) its a very good idea, though you would need gravity/a pump to get it to the washer.
I love your thought provoking posts :D
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