Water-saving tip of the month

One of the most common-sense ways you can save water is to put a bucket in the shower stall or tub when you bathe. Use the bucket to catch water while you rinse, lather and wash off. Then, when you use the toilet, instead of pulling the flush lever, dump the water down the bowl, and the pressure the falling water creates pushes all the waste down the drain…use the whole bucket if there are solid things…

You can also reused boiled water after you cook things like pasta. If you collect pure water, you can also use it to feed your plants, throw it at street vendors who block sidewalks and subway station entrances or put the bucket in your room to create humidity, which has been lacking in Mexico City these months.

We've started collecting water in January, after the city announced it would cut water off three days per month to about half of residents until the rainy season. Luckily, we haven’t been affected, but in water-scarce D.F. you never know when te lo van a cortar.

Giant, black water tanks sit on roofs of most houses and buildings here, aka Rotoplas, and the super-noisy bomba pumps water into the tanks, so even if the city cuts you off, you still probably have a few litros waiting in the Rotoplas.