photo by Burning Image
You might be wasting water and not even be aware of it. Maybe you let the water run down the drain for dishes, teeth-brushing or your shower. Or you drain off the boiled water used for cooking pasta or vegetables. Some water can be saved and reused for watering indoor and outdoor plants. And your cooking water can often be reused for soup or rice, or like in the first reader tip below.
WASTE NOT: When you make mashed potatoes or mac and cheese, measure out how much liquid you will need and reserve it from the cooking water. Drain out the rest, return the reserved water to the pan and add a small amount of powdered milk to it. Stir and enjoy! Also, I use the lids from plastic margarine tubs as mini cutting boards. I just rinse them off instead of having to clean the whole board to mince 1/4 cup of onion. — Lori, Oregon
SALVAGE: If you come across old, abandoned houses or buildings that are going to be torn down (or a neighbor who’s moving), get in touch with the owner or construction company and ask whether they mind if you take some of the plants. You’ll be saving them! Last fall, our neighbor was looking after his neighbor’s place. It was going to be torn down, and he asked me if I wanted all the ferns that were across the front of the house. They’re now at the side of my house. — Heather, e-mail
ROLLING-PIN SUBSTITUTE: When my rolling pin broke, I had to look around and see what I could find to use instead. I found that plastic cups work OK. But even better were cold soda cans or bottles from the fridge. Not the 2-liter size, but the smaller ones. More often, I use cans of veggies or a smooth jar, like a wine bottle. — Missy, Colorado
REPURPOSE: I have a bunch of hair scrunchies that I bought on sale. I cut my hair short but didn’t want to throw them out. I used them as napkin holders and attached one to my key chain so I can find my keys easier. I’ve used one to open a lid on a jar before, too. — Jean H., e-mail
LAUNDRY TIP: The permanent-press cycle on your washer uses more water than the regular cycle. You can save water by using the regular cycle. — Alexa L., e-mail
MEND: Do you have pulls in jeans that would otherwise still be in good shape? Go and purchase a steel crochet hook anywhere between size 9 and 12 (the larger the number, the smaller the hook). Insert from the inside directly under the pull, hook the fibers and pull through to the inside of the garment. Works every time! This is also great for sweaters, mittens, hats, blouses, slacks and anything that has a pull in it. — Dee, New York
GRATE FROZEN BREAD: I’m not the best cook, but today I was making meatloaves and was not looking forward to chopping up the bread. As I was grating the onions and carrots, I grabbed the frozen bread and grated that, too. Wow, that was easier. Also, I love canned plum tomatoes on toast with cheese and always keep the leftover drained juice. Last week, I froze the juice in ice-cube trays and have used the “cubes” in my chili and soups to add flavor. — She who cannot cook, England
译文:
不要让它们白白被浪费掉
你可能正在浪费水却并未察觉。也许那是在清洗碗碟，刷牙或是洗澡的时候，你任凭水沿着排水管缓缓流走。又或是在你煮面食，洗蔬菜时，开水顺流直下。一些水可以被节省下来并再用来浇灌室内外的植物。而烹煮用水则通常可以再用来烧汤做饭，也可以依照下面第一位读者的小贴士来做。
避免浪费：在你做马铃薯泥，苹果派和奶酪的时候，测量并且从烹煮用水里保留出你所需要的水量，倒掉剩余的，将留下来的水倒回平底锅里，加入少量的奶粉。搅拌一下并享用吧！同样，我把人造黄油桶上的塑料盖子当成迷你切肉板来用。我就稍稍冲洗下，而不是清洗整块板用来切碎1/4杯的洋葱。——lori,俄勒冈州
紧急抢救：当你经过老旧，废弃即将被拆毁（或是邻居将要搬走）的房屋或建筑时，进去和屋子的主人和建筑公司商量下，询问其是否介意你带走其中的一些植物。你是在拯救它们的生命呀！去年秋天，我们的邻居在照看他邻居的土地。那地方就要拆了，他问我是否想要房子前的那整片蕨类植物。现在，这些植物都在我房子的边上了。——Heather, 邮件
代替擀杖：当擀面杖坏了的时候，我不得不四处寻找用什么来替代它。我发现塑料杯是不错的选择。不过冰箱里的冻汽水罐和瓶子更好。（我指的）不是2升裝的，而是较小的那种。在大多数情况下，我会使用素食罐头和光滑的瓶子，像是啤酒瓶。—— Missy,科罗拉多州
崭新用途：我有一串发饰，是在打折时买的。我剪短了头发，不过并不想就把发饰都扔了。我把它们用在餐巾架上，还把其中一个串在我的钥匙链上，这样，我就能更方便地找到钥匙了。之前，我还用它来开过瓶盖。——Jean H.,邮件
洗衣贴士：在洗衣机上使用免烫循环模式会比常规循环模式用更多水。你可以通过用常规循环来节水。——Alexa L，邮件
修修补补：你的牛仔裤上是否有扯破的窟窿，但其他地方却完好无损呢？去买一个钢的编织钩，大小约在9号到12号之间（编号越大，钩子越小）。把钩子直接从破损处下的内侧插入，钩住纤维使其穿过裤子的内部。百试百灵！这一招同样适用于毛衣，露指手套，帽子，衬衫，宽松裤和任何有破损的衣物。
美味冻面包： 我不是顶级厨师，不过今天我在作肉馅面包的时候，没有预想要把面包剁碎。在我切碎洋葱和胡萝卜的时候，我拿来冷冻面包，也把它切碎了。哇，真简单。同样，我喜欢罐装的李子西红柿酱配上有奶酪的烤土司，并且我总会保留没用完的酱。上周，我把酱汁冻在冰块托盘里，并且我已经把这些“冰块”用在我的辣椒和汤里来增添风味。—— 不会烹饪的她，英国