The water crisis that struck the Metro, March of this year caught many by surprise.
Why not? Who would have thought that in today’s modern age, something basic as having a water tank can still be a necessity in one’s home?
If there is one lesson brought by the troubles of having a water interruption, it’s that water is not an infinite resource. In fact, we might be facing another El Niño in a few years’ time.
As inevitable as it seems, teaching our kids the value of water conservation remains important as they grow up. Not only does it create awareness for them but it also teaches them that they have responsibilities outside the home.
Here are fun and creative ways to teach them the value of saving water:
Start a Garden. Do you remember those days in primary school when we were asked to grow mung beans (monggo) in a paper cup or a watered towel? For young schoolers, it was exciting to see the different growing phases of a plant. More than that, it teaches kids that even at an early age, they can help create life and nourish it.
With it, you can help them realize that water is not only something used for drinking or bathing. It also plays a vital role in our environment.
Watch Educational TV shows/movies. Instead of just cartoons or YouTube Kids for screen time while on a school break, have them watch educational shows on Nat Geo or Discovery. Growing up watching documentaries on these channels helped me become aware of how we consume our daily resources that could affect the future.
Remember the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, back in 2006? Â It sparked a huge change in how industries do business. Now, ways to produce renewable energies have increased in developed countries, electric and hybrid car models improved drastically, and the Paris Agreement was signed with the aim to reduce carbon emissions.
Bring them to a farm. If you are driving to any nearby province for a swim at the beach, make a quick stop at some of the rice fields you’ll pass by to show them how farmers toil to be able to grow their crops — from having an irrigation system to ensure that no pest or bird will feed on it. Sometimes, they may even get to see a dry farmland caused by lack of rainfall.
Doing so will show them a bigger scale of the garden they have at home. Through this, they’d understand that not everyone is blessed to have a daily supply of clean water.
Teach them better ways to use water. As early as possible, it is important to teach kids different ways to save water. Take this list to form part of their daily habit and get you started at home:
- Use a glass of water when brushing teeth. This simple act saves a lot of water vs using the tap, which is often left open during this activity.
- Hunt for leaks. Knowing you have one is as easy as finding a running meter when no one is using the tap, shower, or toilet.
- Report leaks in your community.
- Put a brick in your toilet tank. This helps reduce the volume of water needed to fill your tank after every flush.
- Use a pail and a dipper (tabo) instead of using the shower or the bathtub.
- Reuse bath or laundry water to clean the comfort room, car, or the garage.
- Pour only enough water on your glass so you don’t throw any excess that you cannot drink.
- Do the laundry to at most twice a week instead of daily.
- During summer, water the plants late in the afternoon to retain the moisture in the soil longer. It will evaporate by noon time if done in the morning.
- Collect rainwater, which you can use to water the plants or for cleaning. Just make sure to cover it so it does not become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
These may all seem too simple but the money you save for every drop of it is nothing compared to the discipline it imparts and its impact on the environment.
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