Mary Bellamy

It's no secret that I'm a strong advocate of outhouses. Sure, they can get a little stinky, and there's always a high risk of spider encounters, but they are a lot easier on the environment. I didn't realize just how much water they save until the toilet in Tom's apartment stopped working. The cold water wasn't working in the building, so we had to fill up the tank with hot water from the tub to flush it. It took 12 liters of water to flush one toilet. 12.

That's a lot of water. I usually do other things to make sure I'm cutting down on water use, such as turning off the water while I brush my teeth and using the drained pasta water to wash the dishes. Now I've realized that I'm saving countless liters of water every time I sit on that blue foam. Plus, I don't feel so bad about the occasional long, hot shower.