Water conservation is a team effort. Get your kids involved in saving water around the house and help them develop life-long conservation habits.
The more engaging the activities, the better. Reminding your kids where their water comes from and how important conserving water is for our community helps all of our water resources go further. Here are five ways to practice water conservation with kids:
1. Show kids that less is more
The ol’ “turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth” is always a good standby, but when you do need to rinse your toothbrush, remember to do the #TexasTrikle. Instead of turning the water on full blast, use just a trickle to get the job done. Remember to try the Trickle any time you turn the faucet on!
(Teachers, check out these fun Texas Trickle worksheets and experiments)
2. Kids, time your showers!
Help them shoot for spending 5-10 minutes in the shower. Use a stopwatch or timer (like the one in the Water Detectives kits!) and have kids time their showers. Save 10 gallons of water by cutting showers down to 5 minutes – that’s 1,200 gallons of water each month in a four-person household.
3. Become a family of Water Detectives
Test the toilet – identify a leak by having kids placing a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If any color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak. This leak is typically caused by a worn-out flapper, something the kids can easily help you replace and can save you up to 4,000 gallons of water a day!
Continue the fun with the 10-minute EPA WaterSense Leak Challenge or by attending the Water Detectives Training Academy.
4. Water plants together in the morning
Remember that rainwater collection barrel you invested in? Have your kids use what you’ve collected to water potted plants in the morning when the sun is less likely to cause evaporation.
5. Encourage kids to get creative with how to reuse water.
Dropped an ice cube on the ground? Don’t throw it in the sink! Water a house plant or toss it in the garden bed outside.
Running the dishwasher a lot? Help kids designate one glass for their drinking water each day or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.
BONUS
Play the Water Detectives Game! Help kids learn how much water we use around the house by playing the Water Detectives game.