Conserve Water with the One-Cup Method

How does your small household blaze through all these plates, glasses, and silverware in one day? As soon as you have unloaded the dishwasher, the sink is piled high with more dishes. How many dishes really need to go through the dishwasher? If you have just been drinking water, there is no need to scour it before its next use. Even with juice and milk, all you need is a splash of water to rinse out the residual liquid.

Make a new household rule: 1 drinking cup per person a day. You can designate this via color. You can put a fun sticker on a cup. You can write your name on it with a Sharpie. I once went to a wine-tasting party where everyone kept the same glass, and just rinsed it out between different varietals. They used colored ribbons to keep the wine glasses from getting mixed up.

Once you establish this rule, members of your home will grow attached to their personal cup. They will grow fond of it, until no other cup will do. This is much better than grabbing whatever cup you can find from the cabinet. The one-cup method will conserve water, but it will also make less work for the chump, (usually me) who ends up doing the dishes every day.

For more on water and ocean issues, don't miss Blue August on Planet Green.