The Bucket in Our Bathroom

Have you ever thought you might want to catch gray water? Even though some of us try to be as eco-friendly as possible, we humans waste a lot of water. Out of my concern over climate change, waste, and pollution, I started keeping a bucket in the bathroom to catch gray water. It’s a big bucket, 5 gallons, and we keep it in the bathtub.

It catches gray water, both as the water heats up and while we’re taking showers.

What is gray water?

Gray water is the not dirty waste water that comes from bathrooms, kitchen sinks, washing machines, and other appliances. We generate gray water when we heat up the water in the bathroom to take a shower. We also generate gray water when my daughter takes a bath. She usually doesn’t use soap, so her bath water can also be reused.

We use the gray water we catch in the bucket to water our indoor houseplants and to water the fruit trees and evergreens in our back yard. You can also catch gray water and use it to flush the toilet.

Catch gray water in your bathroom

Here’s what our shower bucket to catch gray water used to look like:

Now we have a white bucket to catch gray water from the bathroom. It’s a little less ugly! We also have a watering can in the bathroom so if the bucket to catch gray water is too full, we can put the watering can under the bathtub fixture and catch gray water in there.

I love that we catch gray water in the bathroom but I also wish we had a more high-tech way to catch and reuse all the relatively clean wastewater our household generates.

6 more quick and easy ways to save water:

1. Don’t flush pee down the toilet (if it’s yellow let it mellow)
2. Turn off the tap while you’re soaping your hands. Never let the tap water run.
3. Water outdoor plants on a drip irrigation system. Mulch them well and make sure the soil has good drainage so the plants can thrive without wasting water.
4. Plant natives that are drought tolerant and don’t need to be watered.
5. Don’t let the server refill your water glass when you go out to eat. Carry a water bottle and refill it with leftover water from your glass before you leave the restaurant.
6. Put water in a cup to brush your teeth. You need much less water than you think!

And maybe, just maybe, you should keep a bucket in your bathroom too?!

Related posts:
Plastic Nation No More
Plastic-Free Profits that Champion Zero Waste
What Trying to Eliminate Packaging Taught me About Marriage
99 Ways to Become More Eco-Friendly in the Next 9 Minutes

About Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D.

Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an investigative journalist, book author, and Fulbright awardee. She is the author of Your Baby, Your Way: Taking Charge of Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenting Decisions for a Happier, Healthier Family, co-author (with Paul Thomas, M.D.) of The Vaccine-Friendly Plan, and The Addiction Spectrum: A Compassionate, Holistic Approach to Recovery. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.