How many uses can you find for canning water?

I finally ventured into canning, but am only dipping my toe in the water with basic water bath canning. Freezing and drying are right up there on my list, so when you add it all up I am storing a lot of food, but wasting a lot of water. While canning some blueberry sauce I was trying to think of all the ways I have been using the remaining water bath, blanching and sterilizing water.

1. Let pot cool on porch, water flower pots and container garden

2. Pour while still boiling-hot on spaces between the sidewalk pavers and driveway to kill weeds - Note to self, wear shoes next time - OUCH

3. Let cool for 5-10 minutes add a little soap and use it to kill stinky smell on Crocs and flip flops of sweaty boys. Also, note - make sure boys aren't wearing them at the time! ;o)

4. Let cool and use with soap to mop floors where stinky Crocs and flip flops hang out by the door
And then I realized... That's only four uses! There has got to be a ton more I am missing out on here. Anyone have any bright ideas?

Green Cooler Chic

Those of you who read regularly know I spend a lot of time hanging out at baseball fields, in the dirt, chaos and heat. This requires lots of cold, cold reusable water bottles. How do I keep them all cold you ask? We tried the re-freezable ice blocks, but alas they melt quickly and the just don't keep things icy-cold. Any boy coming straight out of the catcher's gear in 92 degree heat will tell you, that's just not cold enough, mom.

We loathe buying bags of ice in plastic and even that melts rather quickly, so we came up with what we think in a great idea. Take empty plastic containers - our local butter comes in the perfect, round size - and fill with water the night before. By morning, they are solid cubes of ice which I load into the cooler of drinks. Even today, after7 hours outdoors, there were still disks of ice remaining.

We take the leftover ice disks, toss them into the gardens to melt and trickle water the plants. We take the melted ice water and dump it into the flower pots. Trust me, this water is GREYWATER after dirty boys have had their hands in and out of the cooler all day. And, it means that a tired mom can squeak by without watering parts of the garden today!

So, if you have all sorts of weird plastic containers you can't bear to throw away, but are upset at yourself for buying, don't beat yourself up, they have a second use. And, if you have very thirsty boys, you will never be without a cold drink again!

Water Redux...

Memorial Day was finally warm, sunny and almost unseasonably hot. I know, I shouldn't say that... it was 83 today, tomorrow the high will be 55, so I soaked up all the sun I could get because it might have to last me for awhile. I finally felt like it was safe to plant, so in went two new trees, four new shrubs and some Phlox little eco 'burban boy insisted were to be HIS flowers. Now, how to water them?

In our scary, dark and dreary basement (I live in an 80 year old renovated lake home, so the word DAMP is a pretty common theme down there) hums a dehumidifier that helps to take the damp out of the air and make our home rather comfy. So, rather than snake a hose to the drain and let that water go unused, we carry that heavy, sometimes sloppy, water basin up the basement stairs and use those 3 gallons to water trees, flower containers and landscaping. Of course, that doesn't water everything, but 3 gallons every day adds up over a summer - yes, our basement is that damp!

I figured I water something for about 5 months out of the year, so my water savings adds up to 450 gallons in a single summer. Not earth-shattering, but a little water goes a long way!

Take Back the Filter Campaign

Awhile back we switched to a Brita filter / pitcher system and non-leaching waterbottles for all 6 of us. Not only are we keeping plastic bottles out of the house and out of the waste management process, but we are using our regular old tap water right from our well. I thought I was doing a good thing for the environment and saving a little money, right? When I read this from burbanmom and then this from fakeplasticfish, I felt a little less green. Why would a company, such as Brita (now owned by Clorox) recycle their filters in Europe and ignore those of us here in the States? Shame, shame, shame on them. So, I signed the petition, thanks to burbanmom, and now plan to send back my filters to fakeplasticfish, who has had the gumption to create the Take Back the Filter Campaign to return all of these wasteful items right back to Clorox all at once. These ladies really know how to make a statement, so please sign the petition and send back your filters. It's easy and quick, I promise!