Water is a critical part of California’s way of life. The economy, environment and day-to-day lifestyle need water to flourish. But California’s water is limited – especially during this historic drought. The lack of rain and snow this winter means we have to stretch the water that we do have.

The good news…it’s easy to keep saving! There are lots of simple ways to reduce the amount of water that we use at home, both inside and outside.

Let’s start in the bathroom.

The toilet alone accounts for almost 30% of indoor water usage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s also a major source of wasted water due to unidentified leaks and misuse.

Here’s one way to tell if a toilet is leaking: Place a few drops of food coloring in the tank. After at least 10 minutes — don’t flush while waiting — look for color in the bowl, if you don’t see any, great, if you do, you should replace the flapper valve.

Swap out older toilets, faucets, and showerheads with new ones that meet EPA standards. Look for the WaterSense label. Some WaterSense products also offer rebates.

Don’t use the toilet as a trash receptacle.

Another old trick — putting a brick or heavy object in the tank to displace the amount of water required to fill it — is getting a modern upgrade. Drop-A-Brick is a fake brick made from rubber and hydro-gel that can bend and squeeze so it fits into many tanks and achieves the same goal.

Onto the kitchen.

The kitchen sink is the mini-shower and bathtub of the house. We wash everything from our cats to our carrots in it.

Rinse fruits and vegetables in a pot of water instead of using the tap. When done, water your plants.

You can also water your plants with leftover drinking water.

Use less dish soap to avoid using more water when rinsing.

Install aerators on faucets. They can cost as little as a few dollars, and they limit the flow of water.

Don’t use water to rinse off leftover food, scrape particles.

If you have a drippy faucet, and limited motivation to fix it, download the free Drip Detective app. It calculates the amount of water and money you lose per day, week, month, and year based on the number of drips you observe.

And now the laundry room.

To conserve water when treating stains, some DIY blogs recommend using natural products instead of solutions that require pre-soaking.

To get stains out of a white shirt, squeeze lemon juice on the problem areas and leave the shirt in the sun for a few hours for a bleaching effect.

Try rubbing chalk on grease stains, says Apartment Therapy.

If you’re planning to upgrade to a new washing machine, an easy way to find the most water efficient one is to look for a low “water factor,” the EPA recommends. A three-cubic feet machine that uses 18 gallons of water per wash cycle has a water factor of 6.0, for example. A lower number means a more efficient machine.

Making Your Landscaping Drought-Tolerant

A drought-tolerant (or water-wise) landscape is one that allows for a beautiful healthy landscape with drought-tolerant, often native, plants, minimal supplemental irrigation and little to no adverse runoff. Here are six basic principles of a water-wise landscape:

Limit Your Grass: Grass is a huge source of outdoor water waste. Consider cutting back – or eliminating – your turf. At the very least, make sure you have a water-efficient sprinkler system (and make sure you monitor your watering…)

Appropriate Plant Selection: Select trees, shrubs and groundcovers based on their adaptability to your region’s soil and climate. California has an abundance of beautiful native plants which generally have lower water demands, fewer pest problems and less fertilizer needs than plants that have been brought into our state. Check with a local nursery or home improvement store.

The Right Plants for the Right Soil: Knowing your soil and selecting the right kind of plants for your area is an important part of a water-wise landscape.

Efficient Irrigation: Most people water their landscaping more than it needs. The greatest waste of outdoor water is applying too much too often. Remember to water early in the morning or later in the evening when it’s cooler and there is less evaporation.

Mulch: Use mulch wherever possible. A good mulch conserves water by significantly reducing moisture evaporation from the soil. Mulch also reduces weed populations, prevents soil compaction and keeps soil temperatures more moderate.

Maintenance: One of the best benefits of a water-wise landscape is that it requires less maintenance. A well-designed landscape can decrease maintenance by as much as 50 percent through reduced mowing; once-a-year mulching; elimination of non-California-friendly plants; and more efficient watering techniques.

There are a number of websites that offer helpful information, tips and recommendations for water conservation.

 

President Elect, Jill Riley, Citrus Valley Plumbing, announces slate of Directors for Chamber Board.

Matt Leeds: Whitefrog Design, will continue serving the Board of Directors for another three year term of office. Matt has been instrumental in bringing the Chamber into the tech world by first designing and maintaining the extraordinary interactive Chamber website, along with the special event website for Cruisin’ Cuisine. He has served as the Chamber’s webmaster and technical advisor for the past three years. Matt lent his time to the successful Redlands on Ice project in 2014.

Todd Underwood: Allstate Insurance, returns to the Board serving a three year term. Todd filled a vacancy in 2014. He has been actively involved in the Chamber’s Night Light and Fright Night Runs, a faithful attendee at Rise ‘n Shine Redlands and offers his support where ever it is needed.

Annette Franco: Southern California Edison, is joining the Board for the first time. Annette has been a big supporter of the Night Light Run and the Fright Night Run, as well as supported the State of the Community Luncheon and Installation Dinner.

Jill Eaton; is returning to the Board to serve the membership. She is a member of the Rise ‘n Shine Committee planning and has worked on the Cruisin’ Cuisine Committee.

“I am pleased to present this slate of willing leaders, each committed to the organization and willing to contribute time and talent to lead our Chamber over the next three years.” said Riley.

The organizations’ Bylaws provide for additional nominees by petition signed by 20 members in good standing. Petitions must be filed at the Chamber office fifteen days after public notification, a general election will follow.

When it comes to staffing… aim high

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• Whether you’re looking for a certified forklift driver for a day, a controller for six months or you’re looking to add a production technician to your full-time staff, Arrow Staffing will customize staffing solutions to fit your specific needs.

 

Zombie High chooses Deadlands for reunion

I was doing some online research for the 178th class reunion of Zombie High.The actual school was torn down years ago,so it doesn’t really matter where the event is held.  While researching, I happened upon the perfect place for our reunion…Deadlands California.

I wasted no time in contacting the Deadlands Chamber of Commerce and the very knowledgeable Executive Director couldn’t stop expounding the zombiance of Deadlands CA.  She took me on a tour of the city and showed me Sylvan Park and  Fraternatity Row behind the University of Deadlands…both dark and creepy….just what I was looking for!

I booked the park and surrounding area and will host a Zombie event on Saturday October 24, 2015, calling it Fright Night Run. The committee has decided to open it up to the general public….after all there can never be too many humans.

After securing the location, I stopped into the chamber to thank the Executive Director and being a great advocate of Deadlands, she reminded me to tell all the alums to “Eat Locals”  So get your Zombie on and see you at the reunion!

Zelda Zombini

Reunion Committee

 

The State of the City

On Thursday I had the honor of presenting the City Council for the annual State of the City luncheon.  Once again the event was held at the University of Redlands Orton Center.  The crowd was double that of last year.  I wish I could take credit for that, but I think the reality is that everyone showed up in spite of my being the MC.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the recognition of some of Redlands’ outstanding citizens and their accomplishments.  In all the cities I have lived in, large and small, I have never seen a community like this.  The people are close.  Their roots run deep.  And their devotion to making this  city such a wonderful place is never ending.  So congratulations to Isabelle Hosking, Maria Lopez, Heidi Mayer, Alex Paredes, Don Trujillo, Sam Irwin, and those behind the Burrage Mansion and Cutler Insurance Building projects for receiving their 2015 recognition awards.  Congratulations, and thank you.

The slogan for the event was “Stewards of the Past, Investors in the Future”.  I think Mayor Foster got a copyright on that, so don’t even think about using it on your Facebook page.  With that theme set, the members of the City Council delivered a tag-team style presentation that demonstrated just how they are going about accomplishing this task.

As you would expect at an event like this, the City Council focused on the positive accomplishments of the past year.  And there have been a lot of accomplishments to be proud of.  Street paving, improving the cemetery, balanced budget, growing reserves, improvements in emergency operations and systems, a top school district, parks, a high satisfaction rating from residents on the quality of life, and so on.  But the presentation was not just a big pat on the back for the Council.  It was about the big picture.  And the big picture is that we still have a lot of work to do.  We are in the midst of a revival that started a number of years ago, and we are a long way from the finish line.

One of the biggest challenges of the past, and the future, is prioritizing.  We cannot address all the problems at once.  There will always be disagreements on which ones are most important.  Of that you can be certain.  This Council expressed their commitment to continue chipping away at the problems one at a time.  The sidewalks may not get repaired as quite fast as some would like, but they will get repaired.  The airport, the general plan, water, the mall, and further improvements in emergency infrastructure were mentioned as items to address.  And there are more.  In a City with this much history there will always be more.  Hey, what’s life without a few challenges?