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Don't Be a Water Jerk

California is in the throes a serious drought, but driving around Los Angeles, you wouldn’t know it. Lush, green lawns. Sprinklers going off in the middle of the afternoon when much of the water will just evaporate.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


California is in the throes a serious drought, but driving around Los Angeles, you wouldn't know it. Lush, green lawns. Sprinklers going off in the middle of the afternoon when much of the water will just evaporate. People using the hose to (inexplicably) clean off their sidewalk. I refer to people who maintain these habits as "water jerks."

My backyard has grass, and when my husband and I moved in almost a year ago, we promptly stopped watering it. We haven't yet replaced it with native plants, rocks, and other such water-saving landscape, so it's just... yellow grass. But my dead backyard for now is proof that I care about water conservation, and I refuse to waste hundreds upon hundreds of gallons a water a month just to keep some grass green. I even bragged about it on Twitter.


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So that other people can brag about their water conserving habits, I made some patches! Share at will, you wonderful, water-conserving people, you.