Kate Hall: Water saving hacks for summer

The hottest season is nearly upon us, with Summer kicking off very soon. And with the heat on the way, it’s likely water restrictions are on the way as well. So how can you save some water this summer? Kate Hall has a few tips: 

• Reuse greywater wisely. e.g. Collect shower warm-up water in a bucket and use it in the garden. Place a bowl in the sink when rinsing fruit/veggies (use this water for watering plants). 
• Water plants early or late (watering in the cool hours (morning or evening) stops evaporation). Focus on roots, not leaves; plants absorb moisture where it matters.  
• Shorten your showers. Aim for a 4-minute shower; try playing one short song as your timer. A water-efficient showerhead can cut usage by up to 50%.  
• Capture and reuse (keep a bucket near the washing machine or outside to catch rinse water). 
• Wait for full loads: Run washing machines and dishwashers only when full. One less cycle can save 50–100 litres a week. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be and that means it's time to catch up
with our sustainability expert Kate hall Ak Ethically, Kate is
here with us this morning, Yolda. You know, I think
for many people around New Zealand, the last year, well
maybe not the last year, but certainly winter and spring
has been pretty damp to say the least. But given

(00:31):
this is New Zealand, you just know that in about
six weeks time, half the country is going to be
in drought. We're all going to be facing water restrictions.
It's going to be like it's feastal famine, you know.
So this morning you have some really useful practical water
saving hacks as we prepare for summer.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yes, let's start them now early so we can start
practicing them and really make them part of our daily habits,
because just like you said, we only get to a
point as usual where we have water restrictions and it would
be great effort already up today totally. So some of
the kind of main ones we can do is collecting
water in your shower so during summer I can have

(01:09):
a bucket in the bottom of the shower, so when
you're warming up the water, waiting for it to go
warm or even just you know, it's picking up little
bits of water from your shower. Do that and grab
that bucket and pour it on your garden to water
your plants. Things like that, sameous don't Yeah, yeah, have
it in the corner, you know, move it, move it

(01:30):
to the side, very good. Yeah. Placing a bowl in
the sink can be really helpful too, so when you're
washing dishes, when you're rinsing fruit and good juice, things
like that. You can also use that water for watering plants.
I think that watering plants things. You can set up
all these sorts of different gray water catchment things so

(01:52):
that your plants can be watered without taking fresh water
from the hose.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Is key.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Again when you are watering plants, watering them in cool hours,
so morning or the evening, it just stops evaporation, so
you're a to really make use of that water.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
There's such a such a big as like obvious obviously,
but it's such a biggie Like it's crazy how quickly
stuff evaporates and once once the real then the sun
has that real kind of summer bite. It's just it's crazy,
it is.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
It just soaks up everything. Yeah, and obviously when you're
watering and focusing on the roots and just I guess
it's just being really mindful of where the water is
going and making sure that your plants are getting water. Though.
You know, hopefully if you are collecting a lot of
water from your sink in your shower, then you don't
need to water your plants.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yeah, right, yeah, nice.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
And to your showers, short showers. I know my husband
Tim hates say this. He loves a long shower, but
aiming for, you know, three to four minute shower. So
maybe you pick a song that you really like and
you just play the song and when it's over, you
know that you need to get out.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
See, there's there's a hard one for so many of us.
I reckon that I have this kind of like in
built chronometer, so I just feel like I know the
timer is all the time, right like, and I know
I've got a really good sense of how long a
minute is and how long three minutes is and all
that kind of thing. But I feel like my inbuilt
chronometer just goes to the dogs the moment I step
inside the shower. Yeah, all of a sudden, I'm like, ah,

(03:19):
it feels like two minutes. I step out and I'm like, oh,
that was about eleven learn about that, you know, I know. Yeah,
sometimes sometimes this is a bad confessional, but sometimes, oh
my god, I'm a thirty eight year old man, and
yet sometimes when I know I've got to get out
of the shower, I count down in my head from
twenty so I got twenty nineteen eighteen, and when I
get to the low numbers, sometimes I go five, four

(03:43):
and a half, four, three and a half.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Three in a quarter.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Oh my god, Oh my goodness, it was just ridiculous.
But yes, trying to have shorter showers sometimes it's actually
easier in summer as well.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yes, that's true. True, you're craving like a warm shower less. Yes.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:02):
If you do things like make sure you have a
water efficient shower heads, that can be really helpful. So
there's actually I need to check if they're still around,
But there's free like water audits that are part of
a group that E can matters I think used to do.
And I remember they came in and they checked all
of our shower heads and everything to see what the
flow was and through them you can get subsidy off

(04:25):
like cheaper shower heads, right, okay, yeah, more water efficient.
So making sure you know, if you do know that
your your shower is really outdated, yeah, making sure maybe
updating your shower head then you can have a longer
shower potentially and feel less guilty.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah right. Things like making sure you you know, run
your washing machine and your dishwasher when it's actually full
as opposed to two thirds full. I suppose.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
I mean, we should always be doing that, but I
think especially once we're getting into summer, if we start
doing this stuff now, then it will be easier for
us when we do have more water and restrictions that
we're already already in good habits. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
No, that's great, great stuff, Thank you so much. We'll
put those suggestions on the NEWSBALKSB website of course, and
you can find Kate on social media. She is Ethically Kate.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
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