As my month of reduced water and electricity consumption starts to wind down, it's Laundry Day, where we pop into my laundry room to look at how I've been cutting water and electricity use in that realm of the household.
But before we poke through my present dirty laundry, let's look at my dirty laundry a few years ago. I wrote last time about the dish washing process at Punta Mona, the permaculture organic farm in Costa Rica where I spent the summer of 2009. In many ways, the things I'm doing this month are things that I had to practice while at Punta Mona. For example, my showers: like at the Mona, I get in, get wet, and then turn off the power. Then I shampoo and lather. Turn on water to rinse. Turn off, condition and shave. Turn on water to rinse. Done.
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| For the love of God, please do not urinate in the showers! |
Actually, the above description leaves out a Punta Mona step I've been including in my showers: every time I took a shower while at Punta Mona, I washed at least 1 piece of clothing, even if it was my bathing suit. At home, I do this while the water warms up (which was NOT part of the Punta Mona shower experience). Since I frequently shower post-running, I pre-rinse my running bra, running pants, and sometimes a shirt or underwear under the running faucet while it heats. Then, after I'm all soaped up, I soap my clothes up. And then when I rinse, I also rinse them too. This process adds a little to my shower time, and I'm not sure it is the most effective method. But it has cut down on how often I need to do laundry.
