Water closets are available with a smaller toilet flush tank (or a pressurized canister) to reduce the volume of water used with each cycle. Likewise, such large users of water as clothes washers and dishwashers can benefit from this same idea. In these appliances, the quantity of cleansers used is reduced at the same time. The rinse cycle uses less water, as well.
In a clothes washer, for example, you use less water overall if you always max out the size of the load (per manufacturer’s recommendations). Be sure to shop around for a high-efficiency washing machine when your old one needs to be replacing. “High efficiency” equates to low water consumption per load and more thorough cleansing of fabrics with a minimum of detergents.
Even with your old machine, you can help the environment by using low-phosphate, green detergents. Phosphates are very bad for the environment because when they get into rivers and lakes they stimulate the rapid growth of plants as a kind of super-fertilizer. Plants grow very fast and the body of water ages quickly: dead plant matter builds up very fast, the body of water gets very shallow and the whole aquatic ecosystem is exhausted thousands of years before its time.
__________
Excerpted from Going Green, available as an eBook at this list of eBook retailers online.