Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easter Recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Cooking guides and tips
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Food24 taste tests
    • Kitchen design and appliances
    • Drinks
      • Non-alcoholic drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Cocktails
      • Coffee
    • Win
No Result
View All Result
Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easter Recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Cooking guides and tips
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Food24 taste tests
    • Kitchen design and appliances
    • Drinks
      • Non-alcoholic drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Cocktails
      • Coffee
    • Win
No Result
View All Result
Food24
No Result
View All Result

17 Clever ways you can save water in your kitchen right now

Julie Donald by Julie Donald
January 31, 2017
in Food News
0
17 Clever ways you can save water in your kitchen right now
0
SHARES
618
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsapp

As water restrictions in the Western Cape become even more severe, we are reminded again that South Africa is a water scarce country and we are ALL responsible for using water with care.

ALSO READ: 10 Ways to lower your electricity bill when cooking

It is important to save water in your own home but also important to be mindful of the bigger picture. For example, showering at the gym reduces your household’s water consumption, but doesn’t reduce the total water usage from the dams, which is where we need to see the bottom line!

Here are a few handy tips for saving water in your kitchen:

The first (and second) step

1. Make sure that everyone in your house knows about the new restrictions and understands the rules of the house, this applies to children, domestic workers, garden staff, workmen and visitors to your house.

2. Be mindful of how you live, most water saving tips are simply common sense.

Cleaning and washing

3. If you are running off water to get to the hot water, run that water into a bowl or a jug. This is potable water (ie drinkable) so don’t waste it. Use it to fill your kettle, ice trays, water dispensers or place the bowl of cold water next to the sink, use this for rinsing vegetables and fruit, one bowl should last all day, and once you are finished with it, use it to water plants or fill your toilet cistern.

4. Run a sink of hot water, with soap and use that to wash your hands, and dishes while you are cooking.

5. Re-use grey water where possible. The water used to wash dishes (from your sink or dishwasher is considered “black water”.  It is too full of grease and bacteria to be use in the garden, but water from washing vegetables, cooking and your washing machine can all be used on the garden).  This grey water can be diverted directly from the outlet pipe, or using a grey water system (which collects it in a tank and pumps it out). If you are using your washing machine water, make sure to select the appropriate detergent and do not use water that has been used to wash nappies as this water will contain high levels of bacteria.

6. Use buckets and bowls instead of the sink for washing clothes, vegetables etc.  It makes it easy to carry the water outside to use on the garden or use it in your toilet cistern.

7. Do not pre-rinse dishes before washing them in the dishwasher.

8. Do not wash recycling items before sending them to the depot, unless necessary (by which I mean smelly or would attract pests).  If you do have to rinse recycling items, do it in your dish washing water once you have finished washing your dishes so as not to waste further water.

Cooking and food preparation

9. Do not rinse hands, or vegetables etc under running water.

10. Do not waste cooking water, if you have used water to boil eggs or vegetables, set it aside to cool and use it in the garden.

11. Grow your own food. Again, this doesn’t sound like the obvious solution (because you need to water and nurture the plants) but think of it this way, rather than wasting water (even grey water) on watering a lawn (which could look beautiful if we had enough water, which we don’t so it just looks patchy and brown and doesn’t give you much in return). Plant a patch of vegetables or use pots which are easier to water, use your grey water to nurture that patch, and see the return on your investment in the form of vegetables.  

12. Save all your kitchen scraps and start a compost heap (or even better start a worm farm).  Compost is a great mulch, and can improve soil quality by preventing evaporation from the soil, reducing the amount of water needed in the garden.

Shopping

13. Consider the “water footprint” of your foods. In general vegetables use far less water to produce than food stuffs higher up the food chain.  Tomatoes for example use 184 litres of water to make 1 kg of tomatoes, where beef can take up to 42 000 litres to make 1 kg of beef. Time to embrace meat free Monday!  (Good for your wallet, waistline AND good for the environment).

14. Pre-washed vegetables (and salad) may sound like the perfect solution (you don’t need to wash it yourself) but in the greater scheme of things, it uses more water to pre-wash than is does to wash it yourself. Manufacturers wash the item three times before packaging it (using far more water than you would have used if you had washed it yourself, and incidentally they add chlorine to the water to ensure reduction of contaminants so you can bet your bottom dollar they don’t re-use that water). Also, once vegetables have been washed they do not keep as long as unwashed vegetables, so there is more food waste related to pre-washed. How many quarter full bags of salad greens have you thrown away in your lifetime?  

15. Bottled water – just stop. Stop buying it!  It takes 7 litres of water to manufacture the plastic bottle for an individually packaged water bottle. South Africa has one of the safest water supplies in the world, so get yourself a nice reusable glass bottle and fill it up! (On a side note, only about 12% of those plastic bottles are ever recycled). If you have your heart set on spring water (and you live in Cape Town) head down to Newlands.  

Newlands Brewery has built a spring water collection point on the corner of Letterstedt Road and Main Road, Newlands, where members of the public can come to collect spring water, free of charge. The collection point is open daily from 6am 9pm.

16. Hand sanitiser and paper plates are another example of “false economies”.  At first glance it may seem to save water (no need to wash dishes, or rinse hands) but in reality, the water footprint (and environmental impact) make them far more water guzzling than simply washing up your plate and then washing your hands in the water afterwards!

17. Drop the takeaway coffee.  A shocking 200 litres of water is used to make a single takeaway latte (and its container). Time for a re-usable cup.

What are your water saving tips for the kitchen? SHARE them with us in the comment section below or on Facebook!

Tags: DroughtKitchenwater


Related Posts

B-well flavoured mayonnaise
Partner content

Partner content: Elevate your meals with B-well’s new flavoured mayonnaise

June 2, 2023
Food24 taste-off: 4 frozen mini cheese-and-tomato pizzas battle it out
Food24 taste tests

Food24 taste-off: 4 frozen mini cheese-and-tomato pizzas battle it out

June 2, 2023
South African potstill brandy named World’s Best Wine Brandy 2023
Drinks

South African potstill brandy named World’s Best Wine Brandy 2023

May 30, 2023
Next Post
Midweek recipe ideas for low carb cooks – 1 February 2017

Midweek recipe ideas for low carb cooks - 1 February 2017

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Food24 Team Loves

10 winter warmer recipes to tuck into this season

10 winter warmer recipes to tuck into this season

April 26, 2023
bananas

Fried, mashed or sushi: 6 non-traditional ways to eat bananas you’ll love

April 19, 2023
The jury’s out on egg alternatives – have you tried these ones?

The jury’s out on egg alternatives – have you tried these ones?

April 12, 2023
speckled-eggs-taste-test

The original Speckled Egg takes on copycat rivals – see the results here

April 6, 2023
misomite

Discovering the world of locally made miso with master fermenter James Kuiper

March 23, 2023

Recent favourites

  • porridge-recipes-food24

    6 Porridge recipes to warm up cold winter mornings

    3 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • South African potstill brandy named World’s Best Wine Brandy 2023

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Spekboom: the overachieving miracle plant

    34 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Cinnamon sugar doughnuts: Krispy Kreme vs SA supermarkets

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The perfect base ingredients for every curry

    31 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get weekly access to our best recipes, tips and tricks

Sign Up
Footer

Quick links

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Win

Collections

  • New Recipes
  • Festive
  • Baking
  • Dessert Recipes
  • Braai Recipes
  • Lunchbox
  • South African Recipes
  • Pasta Recipes

Other links

  • Advertise with Food24
  • Editorial Policy
  • How to Pitch
  • Contact us

Not in the mood to cook?

Visit eatout.co.za to find the perfect restaurant near you.

eatout.co.za

© 2020 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

  • About us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • New Media
IAB
No Result
View All Result
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easter Recipes
    • Air fryer recipes
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Pork recipes
    • Fish and Tips
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Cooking guides and tips
    • Pantry staples
    • Load shedding lifesavers
    • Baking tips and tricks
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Food24 taste tests
    • Kitchen design and appliances
    • Drinks
      • Non-alcoholic drinks
      • Wine
      • Beer
      • Cocktails
      • Coffee
    • Win

© 2019 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms below to register

Subscribe to Newsletter

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Close
Food24
Recipe Disclaimer

All recipe content is the responsibility of the party from whom such content originated. You agree that you use the content on Food24 at your own risk. Please read our editorial policy.
Close
Food24
Get the latest recipes delivered to your inbox weekly
Promotional Newsletter

Be the first to receive information about competitions and special offers from Food24 and it's partners.

You have successfully been subscribed!
Something went wrong. Please try again.
Make sure you have completed all required fields.
I don't want to see this again