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#SaveTheDropLA: City offers rebates, freebies to encourage water savings
The mayor on Thursday, April 9, 2015, announced a campaign to encourage Angelenos to save more water. The campaign features an anthropomorphic blue water drop.
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Courtesy Los Angeles Mayor's Office
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday rolled out a new public engagement campaign touting several incentives to help the city reduce its water use during the state's on-going drought.
The "Save the Drop LA" campaign, featuring an anthropomorphic water drop, aims to encourage Los Angeles residents to cut back their own water use so the city can meet its goal, set last year by the mayor, of reducing water use 20 percent by the end of 2016.
State regulators on Tuesday proposed mandatory cutbacks for all cities and towns in California. If approved, the new rules would require L.A. to cut its water use by 20 percent 10 months earlier than Garcetti's goal, though the state is using an earlier baseline for comparison. The city wants to lower that target, claiming it should get credit for previous water savings.
The incentives touted in the campaign include:
- A rebate of $3.75 per square foot if you swap your grass lawn for more drought-friendly plants
- Continuing the popular rain barrel program, a $100 rebate on up to four barrels
- A $200 rebate for installing a smart controller
- Free showerheads and aerators from the L.A. Department of Water and Power
- Rebates on washing machines ($300) and toilets ($150)
The city also offered a series of tips to help reduce home water use, including these:
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway
- Use a pool cover to reduce thousands of gallons of water loss from evaporation
- Take shorter showers
- Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth or shaving
- Wash only full loads of laundry
- Fix a leaky faucet to save up to 300 gallons of water per month
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