Gray Water and your Garden

There was an interesting article in the Oakland Tribune on Sunday that caught my eye about using “gray water”. Gray water is water that comes from sinks, tubs and washing machines. In a drought year (here in California), people are looking for viable alternatives to water their lawns and gardens while lowering their overall water usage. Water will become more and more of a precious resource and conservation is key now and in the future. The process is becoming more sophisticated- you can now actually purchase irrigation systems that use gray water. If that isn’t in the budget or the plan for the moment, it can be as simple as catching the outcoming water in your sink and then scooping it or sucking it out with a vac for redistribution outside. My friend and colleague, Michael Cronin, has been doing this in his home for awhile and wrote this testimonial for me a few months ago:

“I grew up in the era of ‘REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE’ and it occurred to me that I could use my Melaleuca grey water (laundry) to further my green efforts in gardening. California is always water conscious and I use my grey water to irrigate my beautiful garden to reduce my waste water flow factor with the security that I am not making the soil and my surroundings toxic.” ~Michael Cronin

If you watering anything edible, just make sure the parts that you eat are above ground.

Melaleuca’s MELAPOWER is not only good for you and the environment but now it’s good for your garden and your water bill! MelaPower is bleach-free, non-alkaline and non-caustic. Even better it’s biodegradable and perfect for watering your yard. This product is pH balanced so it won’t irritate your skin but gets your clothes clean! 1 pump of MelaPower is enough to clean your entire load. You can also add MelaBrite to brighten your load. If you are washing anything that has any type of odor or mildew, add 1 capful of Sol-U-Mel.

In the spirit of cleaning clothes and laundry, here is a Smart Tip…

Blood stains- they are challenging to remove but here are a couple of ideas:

•Spray with full strength Pre-Spot, let it set for a few moments then rub

out the stain with cold water, repeat if necessary

•Wash the item with MelaPower and 1-2 capfuls of Sol-U-Mel

•Antibacterial liquid soap rubbed into any fresh red stain seems to work

well, keep the Clear Defense Hand Sanitizing Wipes handy for the

same purpose