Water Conservation for Kids

Getting Involved!

Water is a natural resource that we derive from Earth, without water we would not be able to live. By making simple changes at home and the way our families, friends, and classmates use water kids can make a huge impact.  If every person across that United States flushed their toilets one time less every day, together we could save enough water to fill a lake a mile wide and long, that is four feet in depth. Here are ways that kids can do their part to save water:

• When washing your hands do not leave the water running. Wet your hands and turn the water off.  Use soap and later your hands well, then turn the water on to rines. Turn the water off and dry your hands. Be sure to make sure that the water is off completely!
• Don’t leave the water on while you are brushing your teeth. Turn the faucet on to get your toothbrush and toothpaste wet, and then again to rinse your mouth and toothbrush. Be sure to make sure that the water is off completely!
• Tell an adult when faucets are dripping.
• Take short showers instead of baths, baths use a lot of water (about 37 gallons on average). Sort showers use only about 20 gallons of water.
• Don’t flush used tissues, or things like gum wrappers, paper towels, or even dead bugs or goldfish. The average flush uses as much as 5 gallons of water!
• When meals are prepared and vegetables or other fresh produce are washed, collect that water and use it to water household plants.
• Put your toilet to the test.  In the tank part of the toilets in your house, put several drops of food coloring into the water. If you see the coloring seeping into the bowl, there’s a leak. Fixing it can save about 600 gallons of water each month!
• Keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator if you like to drink cold water, rather than running the kitchen faucet for several minutes to get cold water.
• Use a barrel outdoors to catch rain-water, then use that water for things like watering plants to save hundreds of gallons of water.
• Do you like to play under the sprinkler on hot summer days? When you do, make sure it’s when the lawn is being watered at the same time.
• Instead of using a garbage disposal, why not start composting food waste? Collect things like fruit skins and peels, vegetable leaves and stems, and even dead plants and flowers. In a ceramic container, keep them moist and toss them for air once a week. The compost can then be added to a garden like a vitamin for your outdoor plants!
• Encourage the others in your home, and your friends, not to leave any faucet running. Only use what is truly needed!
• Encourage everyone to scrape their plates rather than rinse them before loading them into the dishwasher and only run it if it is full.
• If you have a pool or a hot tub at your house, encourage those who use it to cover it afterward to prevent the water from evaporation and having to keep refilling.