Be part of the solution: Save water at home

5. Get permeable. Take it a step further, and replace the concrete driveway and walkway with permeable pavement surfaces. Read about the various types of pavers and brick replacements that water seep into the ground where it can do some good instead of down the storm drain. This research site provides some information, and here are some pictures of how permeable surfaces can look.

6. Capture the rain. Rain gardens, rain harvesting and green roofs are some slick ways to capture all that free water. A rain garden is really just a shallow depression where native plants and grasses with deep roots are planted to soak up rainwater that normally would flow into the street. Consult local native plant nurseries for the best buys. Rainwater harvesting is essentially directing rain into a cistern or container that you can later tap for landscape watering. Rainwater Harvesting has lots of information, and more details from some homeowners who’ve set up collection systems.

The green roof at the California Academy of Sciences; by Rana Creek Living Architecture (Photo from: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities)

7. Green the view overhead. Green roofs are just that: Ugly asphalt or concrete converted to a floating garden as lush and lovely as you want. Water still needs to flow off the roof, but these are especially suited for urban areas with their empty roof spaces. The new terrain keeps the building’s temperature down, as Europeans have known for years. Greenroofs has information, as does the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Simple Steps.

Bonus points: Guess what else you can do to save water? Eat less meat. Industrial beef production, in particular, is water intensive. From the irrigation of the corn fed to the cattle, to the energy used to truck the animal to a confinement facility, and later to distribute and refrigerate the meat, water gets consumed at every turn.