Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Jenna Garrett/The Guardian.
Eric Haas in his backyard in Oakland, California. The California professor had a rainwater and greywater capture system installed at his highly efficient urban home to conserve water. 

I like reading about people who are handy at fixing or making things. Probably because I’m not. Other than sewing on a button or baking cookies, I don’t do much in the do-it-yourself line, but I know some of you do, and I’d love to hear about it.

Today’s article is part of a Guardian series on people who figure out ways to limit their impact on the environment. Sometimes that means working with companies specializing in sustainable building practices. Eric Haas told his story to Victoria Namkung.

“I joined the Peace Corps after college in 1985,” Haas explains, “and was a math and science teacher in Buchanan, Liberia. There, I started to realize that large parts of the world don’t live with all the energy consumption and materialism that we do in the US.

“I started seeing people’s innovative ways of keeping their houses warm or cool and how they would get their water. I had to carry my own water at times and be very conscious where it came from. These experiences started cementing this idea that life could take into account the environment you lived in.

Relatively simple ideas could make a huge difference in the comfort and quality of your house. You adapt and your lifestyle can adapt. …

“When our family settled in Oakland, California, in 2007, part of the decision in buying a house was whether it was somewhere I could finally focus on water conservation and other low-carbon-footprint projects like installing solar panels, insulation and high-efficiency appliances.

“I hired Dig Cooperative Inc, a local contractor known for pioneering water-conservation systems across the greater Bay Area, to install a rainwater and greywater collection system at our home. I have about 4,000 gallons of water I can collect, which translates to about 7inches of rain coming off the roof. Filtered rainwater is used to fill the toilets and washing machine and water most of our plants. It can also be saved on site for emergency use in case of a fire or an earthquake.

“The greywater system takes our ‘used’ shower, bathroom sink and washing machine water and diverts it to the backyard to water our vegetable gardens and six fruit trees. …

“During 2024, the typical household in our area used an average of 124 gallons of water a day. We used an average of 39 gallons of water a day, less than a third.

“It wasn’t hard and the whole project took about a week. Rain barrels needed to be purchased and set up and the ground had to be leveled. I have a relatively small and simple house and connecting the rainwater and greywater system into the existing plumbing just took a day or two.

“The whole project cost about $15,000. We still have a water bill because the shower, sink and dishwasher water use regular city water, but it’s a fraction of what it used to be. … Compared to the average water user, I save about $220 a year on my water bill. So, my rainwater and greywater systems do more for my local environment than they do for my wallet.

“Since moving to Oakland, I’ve noticed a lot of climate-related changes. Before, nobody had air-conditioning, and I never even thought about it. Now it’s almost a necessity on select days. When I first put in the system, there was enough rain periodically in California’s dry season to fill up the tanks enough that I never had to go back to city water for the first several years. Now it only lasts for about 10 months. The dry season is so dry and when we’ve got extra rain in the rainy season my tanks overflow and drain into the sewer because they’re full.

“We have to approach our water use differently in California. … Our overuse of water now impacts our quality of life. We have water-restriction days where they ask you not to use as much water, including not flushing our toilets every time, and we’re encouraged not to have a lawn. … You can still have a really nice garden. We have a hot tub, we have a regular shower, but because those things are connected into this larger system, we have a much smaller impact.

“I feel like I’m doing something real and concrete, and every time I hear the greywater pump go on or when I hear the pump from our rainwater system go on to fill up the washing machine or  toilet, that’s water that I’m not taking from the system and that matters.

“Every time it rains, I love to go out and look at the gutters and see how much it’s pouring into the system. It brings me joy to interact with the natural environment in this small way in my urban house.”

More at the Guardian, here. My DIY climate hack is a Guardian series about everyday people across the US using their own ingenuity to tackle the climate crisis in their neighborhoods, homes and backyards.