The Green Grass of Home
Posted by jaybeacham on 14 Jul 2023 | Tagged as: blog
Today was the 14th of July 2023.
I was at the Brigham Young Winter Home portraying Brother Brigham for Historic St. George Live Tours.
Before the bus tour came, several groups, members of a Family reunion, were on the grounds and in the house. 85 in the family were divided into smaller groups to see and do things like get photos.
When I arrived and came in by the west walk, the man in the group getting photos welcomed me as “Brigham”.
I got into costume and then I stayed outside on the west side of the house and yard.. The almond trees, fig tree, pecan tree, grapevines and cotton plants and some green grass lawn are situated on that side of the house.
A group with “Brems” bill caps and some shirts that said “Brems” on them, came.
We spoke. The woman was a Brem before marrying, the man, Mister Layton. Three pretty girls of various ages and a tall son. A brother-in-law with a little girl took the photo of them with Brother Brigham (me) while we stood on the west porch steps.
I inquired where they were from.
“Mesa, Arizona”, was the man’s reply. “The temperature here is about the same but it’s prettier here with the green lawns, trees and red cliffs.”
They loved the green grass lawn and when told of the local drive to replace grass with rock, the man sarcastically said, “That will make it cooler.”
Later, the brother law and his family and the parents of the whole tribe came to the west porch. They live in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Grandpa John and grandma Ilene, father Zack, mother Rebecca and daughters Alison, Olivia, and baby and son Dallon.
They got their photo with Brother Brigham too.
They expressed their pleasure in the green lawns. “So green here.”
What should water be used for?
The modern thought is St. George area is that spring and well water is bad and should be run down the sewer but that ditch water from the rivers and reservoirs is healthy to drink if chlorine is added to it.
On july 12, 2023 the Washington County Newsletter came in my email.
This is part of what it said:
“The Washington County Water Conservancy District is paying property owners up to $2 per square foot to replace thirsty grass with water-efficient landscaping. Every square foot of grass converted to water-efficient landscaping saves approximately 45 gallons of water a year. That’s a lot of water!”
45 gallons per square foot per year.
Is that a lot of water saved?
That’s rediculous!
Replace cool grass with hot rock.
Let’s consider how much one person on average uses per day flushing the toilet in the house.
18.5 gallons
And according to the EPA, here are how many gallons the average American uses in other ways per day:
Toilet – 18.5 gallons per person, per day
Washing Machine – 15 gallons per person, per day
Shower – 11.6 gallons per person, per day
Faucet – 10.9 gallons per person, per day
Dishwasher – 1 gallon per person, per day
Average Water Usage in the United States | Aquasana
www.aquasana.com/info/average-water-usage-in-the-united-states-pd.html
Or consider just a toilet: 6,752.5gallons per person per year.
That’s a lot of water.
How much water can a toilet waste per day?
A running toilet can waste 4.5 gallons per minute, (that’s nearly 300 gallons per hour, or 6,480 gallons per day). That could increase your water bill nearly $60 per day. A leaking flapper can waste up to 200 gallons of water per day. Running Toilet vs. Leaking Flapper | LeakAlertor
leakalertor.com/running-toilet-vs-leaking-flapper/
That’s a lot of water.
What percentage of water does a toilet use at home?
Americans use large quantities of water inside their homes. A family of four can use 400 gallons of water every day, and, on average, approximately 70 percent of that water is used indoors. The bathroom is the largest consumer of indoor water. The toilet alone can use 27 percent of household water.
Water & Households — The Conscious Challenge
www.theconsciouschallenge.org/ecologicalfootprintbible…
How many gallons of water does a toilet use per flush?
The amount of water it takes to flush a toilet varies by model. Older toilets may use 7 gallons per flush, while newer toilets may use just 1.6 gallons. Toilet Water Usage Calculators
How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Flush a Toilet?
homeguides.sfgate.com/many-gallons-water-flush-toilet-8…
www.sunrisespecialty.com/how-much-water-to-flush-toilet
So let’s keep the lawns and the coolness and cut back on say, toilet water consumption.
Planting trees and watering greenery can make a desert blossom as a rose.
Make it cooler. Make it pleasant and pretty.
Water used that evaporates comes back in rain and snow to fill our mountains, rivers, reservoirs with water. It’s a necessary cycle.
Let’s use all the water available to us and make a paradise and not a desert wasteland.
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