Urban Ecoist

Wow, this blog has been dormant for quite some time, and oddly, just when being green and sustainable and eco-friendly and zero-emissions and composting and stuff is getting hot. Ew, kind of a bad pun there, with global warming and all, but you’ll see that I am full of bad puns.

Welcome to the first day of Urban Ecoist’s new life.

About me, the writer, your host: I live in Portland, Oregon. If you didn’t know, Portland is a very green and “green” city (I could add one more green referring to the populace’s penchant for pot, but I won’t — oops). LIving in Portland is like a test case for how a major American city can be environmentally sensitive and responsible.

Personally, I am a bit of a granola. I am not wearing hemp, but I do own a bamboo shirt. Not a hippie, but close in some aspects in terms of stereotypes. I was raised by grandparents that went through the Depression, so recycling and gardening was a big part of my childhood and teenage years. For me, this stuff is the ways things are and have been, but like everyone, there are always new ways to help out our environment. Adapting is what we do, and it is interesting how we are all adapting and going to adapt to this sudden realization that Earth is a closed ecosystem and we have the power to muck that up.

Anyhoo, here is my first shot at becoming Urban Ecoist. Living in a city may result in apartment living or renting a house. It is hard to install more efficient appliances and such when you don’t own your residence. Here is what I did as soon as I moved into the house I am currently renting. It’s easy and it will save you water.

Ta Dah!! The incredible low-flow toilet.

You can easy take a half-gallon milk jug or something similar and watertight, fill it with water, and sink it in your toilet’s water tank. By displacement, you effectively reduce the use of a half-gallon of water used in each flush.

Rubber bricks that do the same trick are available at hardware stores, but why not use something you have around the house already. You can add more bottles if you are totally serious about this, but be careful about decreasing the pressure of the flow too much. It may have messy consequences…

Portland, Oregon, sustainable, ecofriendly, environment, urban, zero emissions, low flow toilet