I recently went to Cape Town.The City, which is one of the biggest tourist attraction in South Africa and, as you may or may not know, is going through the worst drought it has experienced in recorded history!

Guys, it’s so bad, I was there with my mom for a weekend. We arrived at the airport and thought let’s use these toilets because it’s an airport. It’s not just any Airport, but an international Airport. I mean surely they would, I don’t know, have some water set aside for the toilets? 

Nope, they didn’t. We went into the bathrooms and were met by the lady who cleans the bathroom, but is now there to monitor and inform us that we are not allowed to flush!

If it’s yellow you don’t flush, but if it’s brown or red you can flush…

Yup, you read right. I was so horrified. I mean I did not realize that it’s THIS bad!

Growing up you were told to not waste water, but let’s be honest did we really take it seriously?

The weekend spent at Cape Town was a real eye-opener for me, made me realise that we take a lot of things for granted which we shouldn’t, especially things like water, food and using the toilet.

After the weekend I decided to go through some tips on how to save water, because when I went back home I thought, what would happen if this happened to us here in Johannesburg or anyone for that matter because it could.

I came to a humbling realization that I /we all live in own little worlds not actually aware of what’s happening around us.

We think that what’s happening over there, be it another city, province or country could never happen to us! We have no idea what could happen this very minute never mind tomorrow.

Anyway here are some tips to save water in your own household, (that I learned while in CT) 🚿

• Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth – we don’t realise but we leave the tap running, what for?
• Turn tap off while washing your hands
• While running the tap, waiting for hot water, collect that water to use for something else
• Don’t flush the toilet all the time – if it’s yellow let it mellow (this is a bit unhygienic but it works)
• Reuse water to water your plants, do they really need “clean” water?
• Choose what matters most – most washing machines use approximately 40 liters of water and dishwashers use approximately 14 liters 💧

These are the few things I learned and they may not be the most hygienic or glamorous way of living especially as a woman, but what happens when you are having your monthly visit then what do you know how many times you actually go to the toilet?

Don’t know about you ladies but I have found that I go to the bathroom far more then than I normally would.

Cape Town is slowly approaching day zero. This is where they will be shutting all the taps and people will have to stand in line to collect water. Which is really serious matter and extreme measures to resort to?

I encourage us all to continue to pray for CT that it would rain buckets over the next couple of months and possibly snow because that is what will actually fill the dams.