Wednesday, February 25, 2015

It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Watering plants}

Frannie likes to take nice warm showers in her house but it takes a while for the water to get warm.  One day while Frannie was waiting for her shower to warm up, she noticed some of her house plants looking a little dry.  Frannie had a great idea!  Why not take the water that was warming up in the shower and use it for watering her house plants instead of letting it go down the drain?

Frannie collected a big pot from her kitchen and used it to collect the water.



Then she poured it in a pitcher and watered her house plants.



Frannie was so excited to find a purpose for this water that would otherwise go down the drain!



Have you thought of ways to save water around your house?  Share your ideas here!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Washing clothes}

Frannie loves getting dressed up and putting together cute outfits, what she doesn't like so much is doing all the laundry afterwards!  Frannie decided there must be some way she could cut down on doing so much laundry and help conserve water and energy at the same time!  Frannie wants to share these helpful ideas so you can do them too.


Can you get another wear out of it?

Frannie only wore this sweater for a little while at school.  Since her sweater wasn't that dirty, Frannie decided to hang it back up in her closet instead of tossing it in the laundry basket.  Not only did this create less laundry for Frannie to wash, but it will help her clothes last longer!


Use less energy by washing your clothes with cold water!

By washing your clothes in cold water, you aren't using energy to heat up the water!


Make sure the settings are correct for each load you wash!

A load of t-shirts will take less water to wash than a load of towels.  So Frannie always makes sure to put in the correct settings for each load she washes! 




Wednesday, February 11, 2015

It's Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {Valentine's Day Upcycling: 3-D Hanging Hearts}

Hello friends!  Frannie the Fish here, sorry I haven't been able to post a Water-Wise Wednesday blog in a while.  I went to my parents' pond for the holidays and couldn't get home because of the snow!  But I'm back now and ready to share some more Water-Wise activities with you!  Enjoy!

Why Upcycling?

Want to learn why Frannie is doing an upcycling project this week?  Check out the Upcycled Clothing Pin Snowflake Ornament blog  here.

This Week's Project: 
3-D Hanging Hearts

Frannie is getting so excited for Valentine's Day, she loves giving her friends Valentine's Day cards.  This year Frannie wants to give out handmade cards.  She decided to upcycle some of the cardboard in her recycling bin to create hanging hearts!

Materials

  • Cardboard or paper (works best with heavier paper)
  • Scissors 
  • Crayons, markers
  • Single hole punch
  • String, ribbon, or pipe cleaner 

 

Instructions:

  1. Use scissors to cut two equally sized hearts out of your cardboard or paper 
  2. Next, cut a straight line halfway through the middle of your first heart (starting from the top)
  3. Take your second heart and cut a straight line halfway through the middle of it (starting from the bottom)
  4. Feel free to color or write messages on either side of the hearts with crayons or markers
  5. Using your single hole punch, punch a hole in the middle at the top of your second heart
  6. Loop your string, ribbon, or pipe cleaner through the hole you just created
  7. Finish your Valentine by sliding your hearts together using the lines you cut