Earth Day 2008: Water Conservation

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.”
~ M. Gandhi



As you may already know, Earth Day is April 22, 2008. While I despise the commercialism of most holidays, I believe Earth Day is one holiday worth celebrating. For this reason, I decided to research how much water the average person uses each day.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, estimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day. The largest use of household water is to flush the toilet, and to take showers and/or baths. The specific figures are as follows:

Bath: 50 gallons
Shower: 2 gallons per minute
Teeth brushing: 1 gallon
Hands/face washing: 1 gallon
Face/leg shaving: 1 gallon
Dishwasher: 20 gallons/load
Dishwashing by hand: 5 gallons/load
Clothes washing (machine): 10 gallons/load
Toilet flush: 3 gallons
Glasses of water drunk: 8 oz. per glass (1/16th of a gallon)

This information is of great interest to me since we moved into Tater. Currently, Tater holds 20 gallons of potable water. The sink and shower drain into a 15 gallon gray water holding tank. The toilet drains into an equally-sized black water holding tank. If Ben and I used the average estimate of 80 gallons of water per day per person, we’d have to fill up 8 times EACH day (as well as dump 8 times each day)! For now, we fill up probably twice a week. (Keep in mind, we are often able to shower at the hotel and we each have a gym membership where we also have access to showers.) Sometimes we are lucky enough to fill up at a friend’s house or at the hotel. Otherwise, we fill up at the gas station, which takes extra time and elbow grease, both of which we can spare.



You might be wondering how we can share 40 gallons of water per week. (I know, it sounds ridiculous!) We don’t have a dishwasher, a washing machine or a bathtub. Our shower comes equipped with an on/off lever so as not to waste water while soaping up. Since the shower measures 22”x29”, there is no reason to spend much time in there. You soap up, rinse off, and get out. Shaving, for the most part, happens outside of the shower - usually with a small bowl of water, shaving cream, and a razor. We don’t leave the water running while we brush our teeth or wash dishes. We don’t drink tap water... we buy drinking water. (Anyone who has experienced California tap water understands this.) Flushing the toilet is the one place we NEVER skimp on water. Too little water in the black water tank makes for a stinky situation. The gray water tank always fills up much quicker than the black water: with the usual teeth-brushing and dish-washing, we can only manage about 4 showers before we need to empty the tank.

I once stumbled across this ancient Indian proverb and it really spoke to me:


Obviously, I don’t have children and the reason may have more to do with that proverb than anything else. I think it is every person’s responsibility to do whatever they can to protect our Earth for the sake of future generations. If the average American spent on eco-friendly products what they would normally spend on Christmas gifts each year, we would all reap the benefits. Doesn’t it make more sense to celebrate something tangible like the Earth, rather than some imaginary fat guy in a red suit? Now, get out there and start celebrating!

Quiet, Please!

I've been living in San Diego for almost 6 years, sheltered in a sweet little beach community by the name of Ocean Beach (OB) - my Pot O'Gold at the end of Interstate 8 West. In all the time I lived there, the only disturbances were the usual noises heard in any neighborhood. Ben, Lola and I have been living in Tater now for about five months. In the past few weeks in particular, the noise of San Diego has grown more and more apparent to me. It seems no matter where we go (with the exception of Ocean Beach, of course), the sound most audible is the sound of Interstate 8. I am beginning to wonder how anyone can stand to live in this noisy city.

Ponderings

A Tribute to the Leather Tramp

A couple weeks ago, Ben, Lola and I got a taste of the leather tramp lifestyle when we dropped Tater off for some auto repairs and the shop kept him overnight for two nights. We were lucky enough to have Mule for transportation, but we spent a good portion of two days walking around strapped with backpacks, searching for places to to spend what seemed like countless hours. We had lunch, read books and napped in Presidio Park. We watched dogs frolicking at Dog Beach while we lounged in the sand talking about life. We were lucky enough to sleep in the hotel each night. While it may sound like a relaxing respite, I feel a sort of empathy for the people who live on the streets everyday - carrying their belongings on their backs, unprotected from the elements, searching for a place to lay their head each day or night. It was one of the most tiring experiences of my life. By the time we picked up Tater on Friday afternoon, I curled up on the couch and fell into a sleep so deep I thought I'd never wake up!





Size Doesn't Matter

Many people can’t imagine how Ben and I tolerate each other living in such a tiny space and we are often asked how we are adjusting to living in Tater. I’ll admit before we moved in, we both expected the transition might be a little uncomfortable. (I think the concern had more to do with condensing our belongings, and less to do with the effect downsizing would have on our relationship). Regardless, the transition has not been difficult. Ben and I both agree that if you find a person to whom you are well-suited, you enjoy spending time together. And it doesn’t matter how small your home is. If we couldn't tolerate each other in this small space, we probably couldn’t tolerate each other in a mansion either!

Life Lessons

Ok, so this blog is a little less about Tater and a little more about me, I guess. And why I’m doing what I’m doing. Some people have been skeptical of the whole “RV-Living” thing and I just thought it would be a good idea to try to put into words what motivates me, personally.

The most valuable lesson I’ve learned in life is to learn from experience. And whenever possible, I try to learn from the experiences of other people as well.

I’ve learned that the best time to travel is when you are young. Don’t wait ‘til you are retired - and too tired or too sick or too stubborn or too big to fit in your bikini. Play now, work later. Most retirees I’ve met prefer to sit. Why not sit at a desk and work? It keeps your mind sharp.

I’ve also learned never to put off ‘til tomorrow what you can accomplish today. This might sound difficult for procrastinators, but if you’re putting off WORK in exchange for PLAY, it actually works out quite well.

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One of my favorite things to do is to glean information from my older, wiser family members about their childhoods, about the past, about a time on Earth before I existed. I find it fascinating to know who Connie and Frank are, besides just Mom and Dad. Or what my Nana’s life was like raising kids in the 50’s. This past year, I’d been thinking of all the things I’d like to ask Nana the next time I visited her. On December 26, 2007, Nana passed away. I never got a chance to ask her any of those questions. Fortunately, Nana taught me a great lesson. Don’t take anything for granted. No matter how comfortable you are, things always change and you should appreciate what you have today because it might be gone tomorrow.

This blog is dedicated to Nana.
May 12, 1919 to December 26, 2007

The Lucky Tater

Saturday night, Tater was lucky enough to escape tragedy when a drunk driver careened into some cars parked just in front of him, outside the Quality Inn. Here are a couple pictures of the aftermath (you can see Tater three cars back). One of the damaged cars had been moved before I got a chance to take a picture. Mule also escaped without incident (he was parked right behind the maroon car at the time of the accident). Ben, Lola & I slept soundly in a hotel room... we had no idea what happened until the following day.

All Good Things Must Come To An End...Or Not!

The other day, Ben emailed me this article and I thought I'd post it here. It gives a little insight into where we live and what we do, and obviously if the ban is passed, it would affect what we are doing. Most likely we'd just have to park inland and away from the beaches. I think most of the issues arise from homeowners parking their many toys on the city streets as a means of storage space, however the ban will obviously affect people who live in their RV's as well. My favorite part of the article is midway down the page where they refer to "Poor people who live in motorhomes..." ;)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080127-9999-1m27parking.html

On the Road...Literally!

OK, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to describe a little more in detail exactly what it means to live in an RV in San Diego.

By law (at least in San Diego), we are allowed to park in parking lots at the beaches, bays, cliffs and parks except between the hours of 2AM and 4AM. We are permitted to park on the side of any city street for up to 72 hours straight.

On days when Ben has to work early in the morning, we usually park Tater on the street in front of the hotel where he works the night before. I work remotely from my laptop, so we either get a room at the hotel or I can work from the RV as long as we are within wi-fi range. Eventually, we will have satellite internet but for now I have to work wherever there is free wireless.

Once Ben is out of work, we hit the road. Sometimes we go back to Ocean Beach (always my first choice because everyone knows Ocean Beach rules!). Sometimes we go to Shelter Island (nice and quiet and right on the bay…lots of older, upstanding RV folk stay here). Sometimes we park on Catalina (between Tony’s house and Catalina Lounge… convenient, but inevitably some punk kids will bang on our door or window at night). We also hit up other cool neighborhoods and places we’d like to check out… or go camping and/or check out sites in and around San Diego County (lakes, mountains, desert… anything nature-like that we might want to see).

The best parking spots are on roads that aren’t heavily traveled. Preferably, we will park near a baseball field, an embankment, a hotel or parking lot. If we must park in a residential area, we will park near an apartment complex where there are many tenants, or a house with a tall fence… basically anyplace where we won’t be bothering a homeowner. I know firsthand what it is like to have an RV parked in front of your residence and it can be very intrusive and irritating. So we try to stick to areas where no one will bother us or be bothered by us…and we rarely stay in the same place two nights in a row. We never stay in a parking lot at night because we’d be required to move Tater to the street at 2AM, and no one wants to get up at 2AM to move.

As you can see in the photos below, RV living is quite common in San Diego. We almost always have RV neighbors, no matter where we park.