Save the Water!

http://scienceblogs.com/significantfigures/index.php/2013/02/21/on-the-back-of-an-envelope-brush-your-teeth-but-turn-the-water-off/

This is a nice article for all those people who really wonder if turning off the faucet during teeth brushing would help the environment. I have never seen anyone do the math on the figure, but I am glad now that I have learned to turn the water off. I also never realized how fast and the pressure of sinks. A water flow of 2.5 gallons per minute seems so high! I couldn't imagine that a sink would fill a gallon in a minute, but here the figure is more than two gallons! I will have to test my sink for a minute with my five gallon bucket and see where it fills to. Simple science for determining the flow rate. I have thought about the excess water from showers and toilets and diets before, but I haven't seen the ideas that are in the comments there. I could easily save the cold water from the shower and use it in my toilet or for my fish tank or water my lawn (gasp! that was a joke, I don't really have a lawn and I certainly wouldn't ever water it). I am not sure how to make the laundry idea work with my washer, but I suppose I could find out some how. I could also just drink it. Its the same water that comes out of the other sinks. And its already cold!

What ways do you think you could save water?

PS. I timed my sink and in a minute it almost filled the bucket to 2 gallons. My pressure is not as high as the article's calculation says, but I do live on top of a plateau.