Up-cycled Watering Can

It is always good to be water wise and in our geographical area this makes the third year in a run of dry winters. Less snow on the mountain peaks results in less water for anyone living below the snow pack who would otherwise benefit from the snow melt. Children in our area will be hearing the word "drought" even more often this summer. When children learn that saving water is important and that they can help few changes kids can make when using water to conserve the low supply.

• Ask children to take showers instead of baths. To demonstrate the difference in water consumption have them plug the tub (if you have a combo unit) and collect all the water for a 5 minute shower. The collected water will visually show them how much water is preserved by switching to showers. 

• Be sure kids turn off the tap while they brush their teeth. Again you can demonstrate how much water collects by plugging the sink. The sink will fill up before the 2 minutes of recommended brushing so count how many seconds it takes to fill the sink and divide by the 120 seconds of teeth brushing to see how many sinks of water they will save. If they do indeed brush for 2 minutes, they will save 8 gallons of water by shutting the water off while they scrub their pearls. 

• Have children turn the faucet off while they lather and wash their hands. 

• Use the waste basket to dispose of trash rather than flushing down the toilet. This is better for the septic system and community waste program too.

• Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator rather than running water until it comes out cold.

• Wash your pets on the lawn rather than the bathtub so the grass benefits from the water. 

• If you have a fish tank, be sure to share the old water with a non-edible plant in the yard or house.

• If you need to cool off, run through the sprinkler while it wets the yard. 

We found a recently emptied plastic bottle and converted it into a watering can. You can use any bottle you have on-hand. We had an empty 40 ounce laundry detergent bottle perfect for small hands. 

Drill a hole for air near the top of the handle.

Drill a holes in the lid. At first we used a nail and hammer but it cracked the plastic. A drill uses a more controlled force keeping the plastic intact. Luckily we had another detergent lid we had saved in our odds and ends containers.

Set your watering can near a sink or tub to collect clean water from: washing fruits and vegetables, your pet's watering dish, water from flower vases, melted ice....you may be surprised how much clean water can be saved and used . When it's full children can head outside to water plants with water that may have otherwise disappeared down the drain. 

Water is life. Save a drop, save the future.