For those of us who ambitiously aspire to save the planet by washing the car on the lawn or setting the washing machine to economy, the Lodue Family has humbled us.

Over a six-week period, the Lodue Family from Williamtown– Linda, Tenzin, Nyima and Yeshi reduced their household water usage to about one quarter that of a typical home.

Linda Lodue, who was eight months pregnant, said her family collected rain water in buckets, which they used for just about everything.

“We showered out of the buckets and used the rain water for washing clothes, cleaning, watering the garden and flushing the toilet, anything except dinking and cooking.

“We were lucky that it did rain a lot through that period and we still used tap water when necessary.”

The effort was part of a competition run by 1233 ABC Radio where competing families were challenged to see how much water they could save over six weeks.

Having lived in the Indian-Tibetan community of Dharam Sala for seven years, Mrs Lodue said they were well prepared for the challenge.

“I met my husband, Tenzin, in India where we lived in the Northern Mountains with the exiled Tibetan community and the Dalai Lama and we had to live off very little water.”

As-well-as saving water, Mrs Lodue and her family try to live conscientiously and use common sense in regard to household waste and energy needs.

“We try to buy local, organic produce and grow our own vegetables where possible.

“We are also careful about what packaging comes with things we buy and how much energy was used to make products, common sense things, really.”

The Lodue family received a fully installed water tank for winning the challenge and are currently looking into solar power and converting their car to bio-diesel.