Conserve Water

Activity Booklet

We All Use Water

You Saved Water

Be a Wise Water User

illustrations by Peter Grosshauser

®

2 3

We All Use Water

The Lifecycle of Your Jeans

Directions: Match the amounts of water in the bucket below with the steps 1-5 of the lifecycle on the right. Then add together all of the water used to get your total. Check your answers on the back. What can you do to reduce the amount of water used in the lifecycle?

Because most of us can get water easily (just by turning on the faucet), we may take it for granted and use a lot. Water flows from its source—such as a river or well—through pipes and to our homes and schools. We all use water in our daily lives for washing our hands, brushing our teeth and flushing the toilet. Did you know that the food you eat and the clothes you wear also use water? The vegetables you eat require water to grow, but water is also needed for washing and packaging the vegetables to be sold at the grocery store. Water is used to grow the cotton in your t-shirts and jeans, and for making, dyeing and sewing the fabric, too.

Many farmers and businesses reduce their water use by recycling water and installing new equip-ment and systems that require less water. Even if your community is not experiencing a water shortage today, it may in the future. Getting into the water conservation habit is a good idea to prepare for tomorrow. You can start now by becoming a water detective and investigating the life-cycle of your jeans below.

Once you have your jeans, what can you do to help conserve water?

• When you wash your jeans, you use a lot of water. By washing less, you can save hundreds of liters of water a year.

• Instead of washing your jeans, try spot cleaning! Use a sponge to wash only the dirty spots on your jeans.

• Use cold water to wash your jeans. It makes them last longer!

• Host a jeans drive with your friends to encourage recycling. Collect used pairs of jeans that no longer fit and find them a new home!

Step 1Step 2Step 3Step 4Step 5

Total =

Add together all of the water used to get your total.

liters

3

GrowingCotton

1

MakingFabric

2

Cutting, Sewing & Packaging

Transporting to Stores

4

Washing at Home

5

RecyclingJeans

6

End of Lifecycle

liters

liters

liters

liters

liters

111 liters

860 liters

236 liters

10 liters

2,565 liters

32

Num

ber

of p

laye

rs: t

wo

to fo

ur

You

need

: Pla

ying

pie

ce (c

oin,

sm

all

ston

e, b

utto

n); f

our

smal

l pie

ces

of

pape

r nu

mbe

red

one

thro

ugh

four

; a

stri

p of

pap

er fo

r ea

ch p

laye

r to

rec

ord

the

gallo

ns o

f wat

er s

aved

. Pla

ce

num

bere

d pa

pers

in a

sm

all b

ag. E

ach

play

er d

raw

s a

num

ber

to d

ecid

e w

ho

star

ts, t

hen

retu

rns

the

num

ber

to

the

bag.

The

goal

: Mov

e th

roug

h th

e ho

use

from

sta

rt to

fin

ish,

land

ing

on ic

ons

that

sho

w y

ou h

ave

save

d w

ater

. Fol

low

th

e ar

row

s. D

o no

t go

back

-w

ards

.

You

used

a h

ose

nozz

le

and

turn

ed o

ff th

e w

ater

whi

le y

ou w

ashe

d yo

ur c

ar. Y

OU

SAV

ED 5

0 LI

TER

S (1

3.2

gallo

ns)

OF

WAT

ER.

How

to p

lay:

Tak

e tu

rns

draw

ing

a nu

mbe

red

slip

from

the

bag

and

mov

ing

that

man

y sp

aces

on

the

boar

d. R

etur

n yo

ur

num

ber

to th

e ba

g. If

you

land

on

an ic

on, f

ind

the

sam

e ic

on

arou

nd th

e bo

rder

of t

he g

ame,

rea

d al

oud

the

wor

ds n

ext

to it

and

wri

te d

own

on y

our

stri

p of

pap

er th

e lit

ers

(gal

lons

) of w

ater

you

sav

ed. E

ach

time

you

land

on

an

icon

and

sav

e w

ater

, you

get

to ta

ke a

noth

er tu

rn. I

f yo

u la

nd o

n a

blan

k sp

ace,

you

r tu

rn is

ove

r.

To w

in: A

fter

all

play

ers

have

rea

ched

the

fin-

ish,

add

the

num

ber

of li

ters

(gal

lons

) on

thei

r st

rips

of p

aper

to d

eter

min

e w

ho

save

d th

e m

ost l

iters

(gal

lons

) of w

ater

!*

You

kept

a p

itche

r of

dr

inki

ng w

ater

in th

e re

frig

erat

or in

stea

d of

ru

nnin

g th

e w

ater

for

a m

inut

e un

til it

was

co

ld. Y

OU

SAV

ED 1

0 LI

TER

S (2

.6 g

allo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

used

a b

ucke

t and

sp

onge

, ins

tead

of a

ru

nnin

g ho

se, t

o cl

ean

the

fam

ily c

ar. Y

OU

SA

VED

100

LIT

ERS

(26.

4 ga

llons

) O

F W

ATER

.

You

aske

d yo

ur p

aren

ts

to in

stal

l a lo

w-f

low

sh

ower

head

. YO

U

SAVE

D 2

0 LI

TER

S (5

.3

gallo

ns) (

per

10 m

inut

e-sh

ower

).

You

used

soa

ker

hose

s to

wat

er th

e sh

rubs

in

your

yar

d. Y

OU

SAV

ED

100

LITE

RS

(26.

4 ga

llons

) OF

WAT

ER

(per

day

).

You

surf

ed th

e In

tern

et

and

foun

d w

ays

to

cons

erve

wat

er. Y

OU

SA

VED

200

LIT

ERS

(52.

8 ga

llons

) OF

WAT

ER.

You

cook

ed v

eget

able

s in

a p

ot w

ith ju

st a

litt

le

wat

er a

nd a

lid.

YO

U

SAVE

D 4

LIT

ERS

(1

gallo

n) O

F W

ATER

.

You

clea

ned

vege

tabl

es

with

a b

rush

in a

st

oppe

red

sink

. YO

U

SAVE

D 1

0 LI

TER

S (2

.6

gallo

ns) O

F W

ATER

(per

m

inut

e).

You

wat

ered

the

law

n in

the

earl

y m

orni

ng

inst

ead

of in

the

heat

of

the

day.

YO

U S

AVED

100

LI

TER

S (2

6.4

gallo

ns)

OF

WAT

ER (p

er d

ay).

You

put

mul

ch

arou

nd

tree

s an

d sh

rubs

in

your

yar

d.

YOU

SAV

ED 1

00

LITE

RS

(26.

4 ga

llons

) (pe

r da

y).

You

mov

ed th

e

spri

nkle

rs s

o th

at th

ey

wer

en’t

wat

erin

g th

e ho

use

and

the

driv

eway

. YO

U S

AVED

100

LIT

ERS

(26.

4 ga

llons

) OF

WAT

ER (p

er d

ay).

You

wai

ted

until

the

auto

mat

ic d

ishw

ashe

r w

as fu

ll to

turn

it o

n.

YOU

SAV

ED 4

5 LI

TER

S (1

1.9

gallo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

put p

last

ic, w

ater

-fil

led

bott

les

in y

our

toile

t tan

k to

red

uce

the

amou

nt o

f wat

er

need

ed to

flus

h th

e to

ilet.

YOU

SAV

ED

4 LI

TER

S (1

ga

llon)

OF

WAT

ER

(per

flus

h).

You

aske

d yo

ur p

aren

ts

to fi

x a

leak

ing

toile

t. YO

U S

AVED

75

LITE

RS

(19.

8 ga

llons

) OF

WAT

ER (p

er d

ay).

You

colle

cted

rai

n to

w

ater

hou

sepl

ants

. YO

U S

AVED

4 L

ITER

S (1

ga

llon)

OF

WAT

ER.

You

clea

ned

your

fish

ta

nk a

nd u

sed

the

dirt

y w

ater

to w

ater

hou

se-

plan

ts. Y

OU

SAV

ED 2

0 LI

TER

S (5

.3 g

allo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

took

a th

ree-

min

ute

show

er in

stea

d of

a

10-m

inut

e sh

ower

. YO

U

SAVE

D 7

0 LI

TER

S (1

8.5

gallo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

put g

arba

ge in

the

tras

h ca

n in

stea

d of

in

the

garb

age

disp

osal

. YO

U S

AVED

20

LITE

RS

(5.3

gal

lons

) OF

WAT

ER.

You

plan

ted

wild

flow

er

mix

in y

our

yard

. YO

U

SAVE

D 1

15 L

ITER

S (3

0.4

gallo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

used

a b

room

in

stea

d of

a h

ose

to

clea

n th

e si

dew

alk.

YO

U S

AVED

50

LITE

RS

(13.

2 ga

llons

) O

F W

ATER

.

You

wai

ted

until

you

had

a

full

load

of c

loth

es

to tu

rn o

n th

e w

ashi

ng

mac

hine

. YO

U S

AVED

10

0 LI

TER

S (2

6.4

gallo

ns) O

F W

ATER

.

You

turn

ed o

ff th

e w

ater

w

hile

bru

shin

g yo

ur

teet

h. Y

OU

SAV

ED 1

0 LI

TER

S (2

.6 g

allo

ns) O

F W

ATER

PER

MIN

UTE

.

Start

Finish

You

Save

d Wat

er

*The

num

ber

of li

ters

(gal

lons

) sav

ed a

re e

stim

ates

and

are

bas

ed

on a

n av

erag

e of

10

liter

s (2

.6 g

allo

ns) a

min

ute

if w

ater

is a

llow

ed

to fl

ow fr

eely

from

the

fauc

et.

Be a Wise Water User

Pretend this is your neighborhood. Your job is to teach people how to be wise water users. Can you find the “water-wasters” and “water-savers” in this picture? Draw a circle around wise water use and a square around water-wasting. How many wise and unwise water users did you find in the neighborhood? Compare them with the answer key on the back cover.

76

Answer Key

ISBN: 978-1-942416-64-7Published by the Project WET FoundationDennis L. Nelson, President and CEO

©2015 by the Project WET Foundation.All rights reserved. The contents of this booklet may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the permission of the publisher.

Second printing, October 2015.Printed in the United States of America.

Contact Us:Project WET Foundation 301 North Willson Ave.Bozeman, MT 59715 USA1-406-585-22361-866-337-5486 (toll free in the USA)1-406-522-0394 (fax)info@projectwet.orgwww.projectwet.org

Conserve Water is brought to you by:

Project Management Team:Morgan Close, International Program ManagerJohn Etgen, Senior Vice PresidentJulia Nelson, USA Program ManagerRosalyn Kutsch, International Program AssistantJessica Solberg, Publications ManagerDennis L. Nelson, President and CEONicole Rosenleaf Ritter, Communications Manager

Project Support Team:Meg Long, Chief Financial OfficerRachel Olsen, Sales, Fulfillment and Customer ServiceVerna Schaff, AccountantCarol Walden, Bookkeeper

Designed by Abby McMillen, folk dog art.Illustrated by Peter Grosshauser.Additonal illustrations on page 2:

Bucket © Ovchynnikov Oleksii–ShutterstockSewing machine © Ints Vikmanis–ShutterstockCotton plant © matsiash iryna–Shutterstock

Project WET FoundationVision: Every child understands and values water through action-oriented education, ensuring a sustainable future. www.projectwet.org

This booklet made possible with funding from Levi Strauss & Co.

Scan the QR code with a smartphone to visit the

Project WET website.

13 water-saversput large load of clothes in washercollect rainwater (2)sweep sidewalkfix leaky faucetsoaker hosewater grass with nozzleput plastic bottle in toilet tankclean vegetables in stoppered sinkturn off water while brushing teeth (2)wash car with bucketfill dishwasher with full load

2 water-wastersdripping faucetwash car with hose running

Step 1: Growing Cotton = 2,565 litersStep 2: Making Fabric = 236 litersStep 3: Cutting, Sewing & Packaging = 111 liters

Step 4: Transporting to Stores = 10 litersStep 5: Washing at Home = 860 litersTotal Water Used = 3,782 liters

We All Use Water, p. 2-3

Be a Wise Water User, p. 6-7