To Flush or Not To Flush?
Find me at in the middle of some project or experiment, or asleep.
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With spring in Chicago I've come to expect some big rainstorms, the kind that can dump inches of water in just a few hours, flooding the streets and parks. I live by Lake Michigan and count myself lucky to witness daily this majestic, vast body of water. With all its abundance it seems like we don't need to worry about water scarcity. But water shortages are a looming reality here, and fresh water shortages and persistent droughts exist throughout the world. Can flushing my toilet make a difference in these global issues?
I want to do my part for water conservation! We have low-flow fixtures, take short showers (under 5 minutes), drink from the tap with a filter and stainless steel water bottles, don't leave our water running while brushing or washing dishes and overall try to use as little as we need. Sometimes we even skip flushing the toilet. That's right!! Under some circumstances (when our business is liquid related and when no company is coming), we let it sit.
What used to be common practice, flushing only when necessary, now leaves even my closest friends and family rolling their eyes.
But I must confess, the result of intermittent flushing can sometimes be a bit of toilet discoloration and even sometimes a 'bathroom' odor. Yuck!
Most commercial toilet bowl cleaners are harsh and toxic. Because every flush in Chicago heads through the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico, I don't use toxic chemicals like bleach to clean our toilet.
White distilled vinegar, which I use just about everywhere in our home to clean and sanitize, doesn't always cut it with a grungy toilet. Plus I don't want to to clean the toilet everyday. So we wait a few days (ok, sometimes a week or two) and then deep clean. I have found the following to be very good at cleaning our bowl, without being harsh or expensive.
1. First, I start with a sprinkle of baking soda and the toilet brush. If that doesn't cut it I use...
2. An oxygen based cleaner like Oxi-Clean or simply pour a few tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide into the bowl and let it sit for a few minutes/hours. Typically I forget I've added this and come back hours later to find the bottle sitting on the closed toilet lid. I then give a few swishes with the bowl brush and flush.
3. If options 1 and 2 leave me less-than-satisfied one of the best products I've found is Sink Into Your Bliss, from Blissful Homes. Made locally with great, safe ingredients it can scour the toughest stains and brings a smile to your face as it fizzes. I'm not kidding, I start grinning every time I use it, not sure why...
I find that I can have the best of both worlds - a lighter water footprint and a toilet that I feel comfortable sharing!!
Read more about the history of drought in the US, in "The Worst Hard Times," by Timothy Egan is a gripping account of the land practices that lead up to the 1930's Dust Bowl Era.
Connect with the region's water issues with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Learn about our region's system of combined sewer overflow and ways to reduce runoff and flooding.
Photos: Shutterstock
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