In the midst of California’s persistent five-year drought, cities and organizations are turning to creative minds to help ease the burden of large-scale water usage reduction. From breweries to real-estate companies, everyone seems to be looking for a way to mitigate the effects of limited rainfall. Taking shorter showers and fixing leaky pipes help immensely, but a drought like this calls for more drastic measures. Here are four water-saving innovations that are redefining what it means to conserve: 

1. Xeriscape Your Lawn

In efforts to use less water while maintaining lawns and gardens, homeowners and landscapers are turning to xeriscaping, a method of landscaping that reduces the amount of turf grass and introduces less water-dependent plants. Xeriscaping is based on seven key strategies that, according to Xeriscape Web, when properly implemented can reduce water usage by nearly 60 percent. Using efficient irrigation techniques and local flora can dramatically change the way homeowners approach landscaping in drought-stricken regions of the country. 

2. Use Why Flush

Seriously, why flush? Nearly 27 percent of all bathroom water use stems from toilet flushing. Most people have both a problem with not flushing and a habit of consistently doing so, Why Flush developed their citrus-based spray to help neutralize the contents of the toilet bowl. When sprayed into the bowl, Why Flush adds a fresh citrus scent and turns the water a more appealing blue-green color. The idea behind the spray is to make not flushing easier for people—and to save thousands of gallons of water with one 16 ounce spray bottle. 

3. Paint Your Lawn with Non-Toxic Green Spray

Your first thought when considering how to remedy a dying lawn is not to paint it—but that’s exactly what Xtreme Green Grass is proposing for the abundance of brown lawns scattered across California. Using water-based, non-toxic paint that's safe for kids, pets, and the environment, Xtreme Green Grass spray-paints a layer of grass-green paint on lawns, replicating the look of sufficiently watered grass. The paint is durable enough to withstand rain and can cut grass-related water use in half. 

4. Get Your Water from...a Desalination Plant?

New technologies are improving upon old methods of desalinating seawater, making the process less energy-intensive. A startup company called WaterFX has developed a solar-powered process that will convert seawater into freshwater more sustainably than ever before. WaterFX hopes to avoid the harmful effect of extra salty water being reverted back into the ocean, a process which harms marine life. They intend to use the captured salt for gypsum, a salt used in making drywall, or epsom salts.