Whats the best way to conserve water? Get rid of those lawns people!!

I taught AP Environmental Science (APES) this past year.  A large part of the curriculum was focused on how humans have been systematically destroying the world, and (more importantly) ideas on how we can fix the problems we've created.  One of the most dire problems we are facing is the water crisis.  There are many sources of information out there but the majority say that the average american uses about 100 gallons of water a day.  Now, I'm no mathematician but that translates to a ridiculously large amount of water per person, per year.
A decent majority of that water is going to our landscape, you'll be amazed by the actual amount (get to that later) per day we squirt on our thirsty yards.  Like most homes in america I have a yard, I actually have almost half an acre lot with the majority being grass.  I'm not trying to brag but I literally have 9 sprinkler zones, oh yeah 9...and have yet to use them (just moved in in December).   We've been lucky enough to have just enough rain to keep it green without watering but if it doesn't keep raining we are going to have to turn the sprinklers on.  There are alternatives to having a yard full of thirsty turf grass, I'll talk about a couple of them in order of water saving vs usefulness.  The first is a rock garden

                                   lava rock front yard

Although this would technically be considered ugly, this will save the homeowner a ton of money and water.  They could have used a better plastic under the rock so the weeds wouldn't pop up.
The next is called xeriscaping.

                                         Xeriscaping

This landscape technique uses native plants instead of turf grass that is native to somewhere else.  To the layperson this looks like just a bunch of weeds but it actually is a great network of many plants that creates a mini native ecosystem.  This is a great alternative because, 1) since they are native plants and evolved to this environment they don't need any extra water then whats provided by nature, and 2) a poly-culture is always better for the fauna than a mono-culture is.
The last and best option (in my opinion) is a garden

                                  Front yard garden

This is the best of both worlds.  It not only looks awesome it feeds your family too.  All that wasted water you were going to put on your grass to keep it alive is going directly to sustaining your life.
Now there is one problem with all of these options.  They are not approved to have by HOA's around the country...mine included.  These are organizations that we pay to write rules for our neighborhood, and if we don't follow them we get fined or (worse case scenario) kicked out of our own house.  It is so ingrained into our heads that we need to have a green front yard, we literally pay organizations to charge us when we try to better our lives and become a little self-sufficient.
I will leave you with this video about our green sponges we call lawns.  Lets see if you can catch how much potable water lawns drink everyday.