AMIDST warnings of drought lasting until the end of the year, it's hard to take these things seriously when we haven't even been told to turn off our hose pipes.

How can we call rainy West Devon a drought area, when we have all seen pictures of real droughts in Africa?

Well actually, the River Tavy, like others in the area, is really low. Anyone can see where the vegetation stops, and this is supposedly a time of April showers, when the river should be rather high.

Even if there was plenty of water to go around, a huge amount of energy goes into cleaning it, and piping it to all of our homes.

The water industry is the fourth most energy intensive sector in the UK. But if you can't be persuaded to conserve water because of the drought, or because of energy consumption, maybe you could be persuaded to conserve it to save money. If you are not on a water meter already, try and arrange it — then you can start to save money every time you turn the tap off.

I'm an avid water saver, and I don't mind sharing some of the ways that I do it. I'm aware you might think me a little extreme, but maybe it will inspire you to try a little bit more.

To start with, I don't really cut my lawn. The longer the grass is, the more moisture the ground keeps, and the healthier and more lush it is.

I try to keep as much soil covered with mulch such as straw or wood chips, which also keeps the moisture in. Less evaporation means less watering.

I also have a water butt which I purchased from the council for £35. It was easy to connect, and I have plenty of water for my plants, and to give my hens.

Inside my house, I keep a washing up bowl in the sink to collect any water I use. I also have a baby bath inside the big bath, which collects all the used water when I shower.

I leave a bucket in the bathroom, so I can use the bath water to flush my toilet with.

I know this might be taking it a bit too far for some, but I also have a luggable loo in my bathroom. It's basically a big chamber pot, with a toilet seat and a lid on it.

Urine is a fantastic source of nitrogen for the garden. I dilute the urine with my dirty washing up water (I use Ecover  which is biodegradable), and fertilise my fruit trees, bushes and roses with it. I also regularly put urine onto my compost heap, as it really helps to get things going.

I use aeration gizmos on the taps and shower heads which use less water, and I re-use all of my cooking water as well as the water in my hot water bottle.

Once you become aware of water saving, you will see where you personally use water, and where you might be able to conserve and recycle it.

Something to think about, is how much clean water you put down the drain. It all has to go to a sewage treatment plant which uses up more energy, which we are paying for, even if we are not directly aware of it.

If we all wasted less clean water coming into our house, and then made full use of the water that we did receive, putting it back into the land whenever we could, (obviously this doesn't mean tossing it into your garden if it is full of chemicals) this would have an incredible impact on the drought status of Devon.

In nature, nothing is 'thrown away'. Water is absorbed into an ecosystem from many different points, and it is continually recycled through many different processes.

This is something that we should aim to replicate. The more that we are aware of the systems that we are living in, and not just mindlessly letting clean water run through the drains, the more we will be able to adapt and change, in response to the growing population and increasing pressure on our water and energy systems.

I teach Permaculture, an ethical design process for sustainability, which bases its principles on those observed in natural ecosystems.

It is a philosophy for permanence which I think is essential to our future.

Rebecca Harris

l Rebecca will be teaching a weekend long 'Introduction to Permaculture' course in Tavistock in October. For more information, go to http://www.thehouseofjam.org">www.thehouseofjam.org