Letters to the Editor: How you can use your shower to flush your toilet during the drought
To the editor: I enjoyed reporter Laura Nelson’s article on reducing water use in showers, but I’m surprised she mentioned only plant watering as a use for the water collected from a shower as it warms up. It’s better than nothing, but in all the previous droughts I remember, the emphasis was on using that water to flush the toilet.
It’s a much more practical use than for plants. Not everyone has plants, and who wants to lug a container full of water through the home? The toilet is right there in the same room as the shower. A two-gallon bucket is good for one or two flushes, depending on ... well, you know.
And I didn’t wait for this drought to start doing it. I have used a bucket in my shower daily since the 1980s — after I read about it, that’s right, in an L.A. Times article.
Perry Sticca, Anaheim
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To the editor: I drank the lemonade years ago. I’ve been a careful user of water since I moved to this city in 1979. I take great pride in my conservation of water. Just ask my wife; it drives her nuts.
Now the city has decided to limit water use by decree. I have zero problems with that. But where does the city come off telling me what two days I can water my lawn?
I’ve owned my home since 1997. I’ve never watered my lawn on the weekend. The weekend? Those are the two days I get to enjoy my backyard.
On Sunday, my day of rest, I’m out there digging and planting and trimming. That, or I sit outside reading or just catching some rays. On Sundays, I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.
So now you are telling me that people on one side of the street get to water their lawns on Mondays and Fridays, but on the other side, it’s Thursdays and Sundays? That’s not right. I have no problem watering my lawn only two days or even one day a week, but it’s not going to be on Sunday.
Jon Roe, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Bernice Brown, wife of former Gov. Pat Brown, set the standard during the 1980s water crisis by taking very short “Navy showers.” She encouraged others to do the same.
I was an aide to Gov. Brown in his retirement, and to this day, whether in a drought or not, I always take Navy showers.
Barbara Marcus, Sherman Oaks
