The Chic Ecologist

Recycle Your Greywater Into Your Landscaping

Harvesting rainwater is a great way to reuse the free water from the sky, however, unless you have a lot of rain barrels and a lot of rain, the dry season will cut your supply short- or will it? Grey water is another great source to recycle from since it is just being wasted by going down the drain.

Greywater is non-sewage waste water from your sinks, bathtub and laundry drains that is safe for your yard. The benefit to recycling or reusing this water is that it recharges aquifers and waters your plants while nature cleans the water. It is even better if the only thing going down the drain are natural cleaners, detergents and soaps. An individual may produce 15,600 gallons of greywater a year, all of which is wasted by going down the drain when it can be safely used on landscaping. Buckets have been used to collect this water from bathtubs, but can be cumbersome and labor intensive and there are easier ways.

Flotender has a great automated system that acts as a collection, storage and irrigation system all in one. Available for your rain collection devices as well, this system gathers your rainwater or greywater and pumps it out to your landscaping through a drip irrigation system. They have other systems available so you can customize the irrigation system to your needs, but they all use the same principle- collect the recycled water and distribute it to your plants. Hook it up to your rain barrels, tap it into your greywater drains and never have to water your yard again!

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Tags: eco friendly, green, greywater recycling, Home, irrigation, reclaimed, recycling, reuse, water

BPA and Your Safest Reusable Water Bottle Choice

When it comes to water bottles, the choices seem endless. By now you probably know all the problems with disposable plastic water bottles, even the so called green bottled water have on the environment, but what about you?

Lately there has been a big deal made of Bisphenol A or BPA. BPA is a estrogen hormone mimicking chemical and has been linked with all kinds of bad stuff, including breast cancer, early puberty, and problems in infants and is found in some surprising places including reusable water bottles and canned fruits and vegetables.

Source: Chemical analyses of 97 canned foods by Southern Testing and Research Division of Microbac Laboratories, Inc., North Carolina.

This was a problem with some reusable plastic and aluminum bottles (aluminum water bottles require a liner to prevent corrosion). Fortunately this has been addressed for most of the big name manufacturers including new production models of Nalgene, SIGG and Camelbak.

Recent studies of BPA effects

The best way to choose a water bottle to avoid BPA and other toxins, is to select the right one for your needs and use it correctly. Here are the prevalent reusable container options:

Glass or Ceramic water bottles
Aquasana
Good for hot (when insulated) and acidic items, scratch resistant, durability, longevity
Bad for weight, traveling, impact


Stainless Steel water bottles
Klean Kanteen
Good for hot (when insulated) and acidic items, durability, longevity
Bad for weight


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Tags: Bisphenol A, bottles, BPA, reusable, water

Design Within Reach Eco Design Water Filter

I do despise bottled water, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to drink artesian spring water. Lucky I came across this beautiful and elegant water pitcher by Design Within Reach (DWR). I do own a Pur water filter pitcher, but I have never liked all that plastic (and large disposable plastic water filters). DWR fills this need beautifully with a water pitcher that is fit for your table (even with the filter elements in it).

Water is filtered through Iouseki stones and Binchotan charcoal, creating fresh, mineral-rich water. While not necessarily the greenest, the stones come from the mountains in Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. The charcoal filtration elements are specially prepared for potable water use, and also works as a deodorizer to create odor-free water.

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Tags: Eco Fashion, filter, Green Design, green kitchen, sustainable, water