Water plays a role in everything from food preparation to cleaning up after cooking and meals.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) offers six easy ways to prepare for upcoming holiday meals and parties without running up your water bill.
Here are the SFWMD’s suggestions on how to incorporate water conservation into holiday preparations:
- Defrost frozen foods in the refrigerator or the microwave, instead of running hot water over them.
- Rinse vegetables and fruits in a sink or pan filled with water, instead of under running water. This water can then be reused to water houseplants. Up to 4 gallons per minute can be used while running a faucet.
- When washing dishes by hand, fill the rinsing sink or basin with soapy water and fill the rinsing sink one-third to one-half full. Avoid letting the water continuously run.
- Select the proper size pans for cooking. Large pans require more water than may be necessary.
- Put food scraps into a garbage can or a composting bin rather than rinsing them into the sink’s garbage disposal. Garbage disposals use up to 4.5 gallons of water per minute.
- Run the dishwasher only when it has a full load. Dishwashers use between 7 gallons and 23 gallons of water per load.
For more water conservation tips, visit WaterMatters.org/Conservation.
Published December 22, 2021