Ooh...looks like rain kids. Go get your buckets.

I’m all for saving water, and generally I admit that the drought is no laughing matter. But I couldn’t help but have a chuckle at a letter in The Age today. Consider my amusement not at the expense of ‘the farmers’, but more in solidarity with knowing exactly how the children will reflect on their childhood in years to come…

Sydneysiders set a worthy example

WE HAVE followed The Age's letters with interest, having recently moved from Sydney. People in Melbourne don't understand how to save water. What's all this showering about? Forget about washing your entire body; don't shower at all. Hasn't anyone heard of a lavender sand bath? A children's sand pit is perfect for this.

As for flushing the loo, just don't flush. We've turned our water closet into an Australian native frog habitat. And when you need to go to the toilet — the compost bin and lemon tree are a great replacement. When the neighbours complain about the smell and flies, we reply: "Don't you know there's a drought?"

We're experimenting with a solar still, so that we can recycle our own wastes into drinking water. It's still brackish, so we don't give it to the kids. We now have a true xeriscape for a garden, concrete and proud.

Our children collect the grey water they produce at school and bring it home for the washing up. When it does rain, we send them to public buildings with a bucket. If you want to save water — get serious.

Roderick Marsh and Fleur Shand,
Brunswick West

I just imagine the looks on those children's faces as they're sent out to collect rain water from public buildings. Do you think they sneak up to the teacher at the end of the day and ask for the grey water in furtive whispers? And think - in thirty years time they'll legitimately be able to tell their own children, 'You don't know what tough is, buster. When I was your age, my parents made me shower with sand."

Cute.

Peace out (and...yeah...save the water.)