Living / Catch some falling water, put it in a bucket, save it for a sunny day. That was one verse of our survival mantra in Ka’u. The lesson: Water is precious, to be enjoyed but never wasted. Ever. In one of my memories, a PVC pipe sticks out of the side of the house, spurting blue-green bathwater into a big plastic trashcan. At sunset, my mother fills five-gallon buckets with this pungent brew and waters the red ti, the ferns and the dying ‘ohi’a trees. Afterward, she anxiously inspects the water tank behind the garden, mentally measuring the amount left for drinking, cooking and washing. Prospects are dim; it hasn’t rained in almost a year.

Such was life of catchment water on the Big Island. The old neighborhood in Ka’u wasn’t hooked up to county water, so every household had a water tank (or three) to catch the rain, our only water source. In my house, we shared every bath, kids cleansing in the elders’ leftovers, with never more than two or three inches of water in the tub. The last grom out would bail pitchers of bathwater into a bucket for flushing the toilet. Like all good hippies, we didn’t flush every time, saving up for when the shishi stink overcame the smell of Bee & Flower soap. Then someone would carefully tip the bucket of bathwater into the bowl until it filled up and flushed automatically. Not even guests ever pushed down on the silver handle.

Then there was Mom’s plant water. I’m not sure how she unhooked the tub drain from the septic system and installed the pipe that led to the garden, but it remains, in my mind, the most ingenious agricultural contraption ever devised, cotton gin notwithstanding. It wasn’t only that we were reusing water; the water itself, a potent mixture of soap and skin cells, was the world’s cheapest fertilizer. Plants apparently love human flesh and organic hair products. Even in the midst of a massive Ka’u drought, which ended up lasting for years, the ti was glossy and the sego palms stood tall, drinking deep of our human leavings.

If everyone could measure the amount of water they use in a day against the amount of water available in the environment–the way we did when we looked in the water tank–we would radically rethink our water habits. Hawai’i uses the most water per capita in the country, 18 percent higher than the national average of 100 gallons of water per person per day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Hawai’i 2050 Sustainability Plan. The Board of Water Supply (BWS) estimates that O’ahu alone used 154.4 million gallons of water per day in 2000. That’s enough water to fill more than 257,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Time to rethink those invasive and thirsty golf courses.

You don’t have to stop flushing your toilet to make a difference (only if you want to save the world). The BWS says, “Use what you need, but do not waste.” The EPA’s WaterSense program says that little things, can reduce your water usage by as much as 30 percent. A running faucet uses two gallons of water per minute, and shutting off the tap while you brush your teeth or wash dishes can save up to 10 gallons per day. A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water per day, so keep your toilet in good working order.

Speaking of toilets, if you haven’t upgraded the lua since you moved it indoors (my family first got indoor plumbing in the late ’80s), you’re probably eligible for the BWS’s ultra-low flush toilet rebate program. According to their website, you can get a $100 rebate for each such toilet you install by June 30, 2008.

As most of the water used in a single family dwelling actually goes to the garden, having good water habits outside makes a big difference. Using devices like drip irrigation, moisture sensors and rain shut-off devices can cut down your outdoor water usage by half, especially if you water before 9am and after 5pm, avoiding peak evaporation hours. You might consider using your bathwater like my mother did. But city regulations might say otherwise, so call the BWS and check. If you do decide to nourish the plants with your baths, remember to switch to organic soaps and shampoos, as not to kill your entire garden.

Even if you don’t go all-out with the sustainable household, it’s still a good idea to keep a garden, as long as you do it right. Plant native plants appropriate for your area and climate (known as xeriscaping). No cactuses in Waiahole. Xeriscaping makes the most efficient use of water, helps prevent soil erosion and cools the ground. A lot of talk about global warming and climate change focuses around car emissions, but the vast swaths of asphalt and concrete needed to maintain a car culture have had just as big an impact as the cars themselves. One of the reasons we had such a fierce drought in Ka’u was that the county paved the roads in our subdivision, at the same time over a hundred acres of forest was bulldozed for a macadamia nut farm. Heat from the new roads, combined with the lack of trees and plants, chased the clouds away for many hard years. As we saw with the deforestation of Kaho’olawe by bloody big bombs, sometimes the rains simply don’t come back.

Ka wai ola. Water for life, the motto of the Hawai’i Board of Water Supply. It is truly the most precious resource we have. As you read this, water rights are being debated in courts across the islands, and water scarcity is fueling wars and conflicts across the globe. It isn’t just numbers on a meter; it’s your lifeblood. Take care of it, because when it’s gone, there’s no way to bring it back.

Water board

Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program: [epa.gov/watersense]

Hawai’i Board of Water Supply: [boardofwatersupply.org]

Hawai’i 2050 Sustainability Plan: charting a course for Hawai’i’s sustainable future. 2008. Honolulu: Office of the Auditor.

United Nations Water website: [unwater.org]

Lilleeng-Rosenberger, Kerin E. 2005. Growing Hawai’i’s Native Plants: A Simple Step-By-Step Approach for Every Species. Honolulu: Mutual Publishing.

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