It's week nine in Frannie's series of The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home. This week, Frannie is asking you to look into the future...
In just a few months, spring will have sprung and people will begin working in their gardens and lawns. Frannie wants everyone to remember to go native in their landscaping and also to use water wisely in your green spaces!
Here are a few helpful tips for watering wisely:
- Water the lawn and plants during the coolest parts of the day, usually early in the morning or around dusk. This will help reduce evaporation, the conversion of a liquid into a vapor (or gaseous state), and ensure the water is getting where you want it to go - to the plants.
- Put a layer of mulch around plants to further slow evaporation.
- Avoid over-watering. Only water the lawn and plants when they truly need it. Remember: you can water plants in shady areas about 30 percent less than sunny areas.
- Gather water as the shower warms up or use melted leftover ice to water houseplants.
- Instead of using the hose to clean driveways and sidewalks, use a broom.
- Don't water cement, position your sprinklers so they are watering grass.
- Make sure you, your family, and your neighbors obey any watering restrictions during dry periods.
Find more helpful tips for reducing your overall water use with The Groundwater Foundation's free daily water-tracking app for Android and Apple products, 30 by 30!
This is week eight in Frannie's series The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home. Even though it's still winter in most of the United States, it's not too early to think about spring, gardening, and being water-wise! Remember to use native plants in your landscaping and gardening this spring.
There are so many benefits to using water-wise, native plants in your lawn. Not only do they look great, but they don't need much water or fertilizer. You help conserve water resources when you use less for watering, and you protect water quality by applying less fertilizers to the soil. Remember from Frannie's Story, fertilizers can wash off the grass from rain or watering and run into streams and lakes (where Frannie and her friends live!) Fertilizer is food for plants. It is often given to plants so they can grow bigger and faster. Fertilizer will also make plants and algae grow in the water. Too many plants in the water can be bad for fish like Frannie.
Remember to also choose grass varieties for your lawn that are adapted for your region's climate, this will help reduce the need for lots of watering and chemical applications. In some cases, it may be best to skip using grass at all. For example, in desert regions, rock landscaping has taken off as a water-wise landscaping option.
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Do research for your region to see what kind of landscaping will help protect and conserve groundwater! For more fun, work with your Girl Scout troop to "go native" in a public green space then get the site certified as a Groundwater Guardian Green Site.
It is week seven in our series The Groundwater's Foundation Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home. This week is dedicated to using natural/nontoxic household cleaners whenever possible. This week's goal goes hand-in-hand with Frannie's previous blog about reducing chemical use. The cleaner recipe Frannie shared a few weeks back is just one of many natural alternatives you can use in your home! There are a number of natural and nontoxic ingredients that are great for cleaning.
Using natural products for cleaning is an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly alternative to using harsh and potentially toxic cleaners. Using natural products helps protect the environment for fish like Frannie by decreasing the demand for harsh cleaners and also decreasing the pollution from production, use, and disposal of these materials.
Here are some common environmentally-friendly cleaning ingredients and what they do:
- Baking soda - cleans, deodorizes, scours.
- Lemon - antibacterial.
- White vinegar - cuts grease, removes mildew and odors.
- Cornstarch - can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs.
- Rubbing alcohol - disinfectant.
Depending on what you want to clean, you will use different ingredients and in different amounts. Find more ingredients and recipes on Eartheasy, a website dedicated to sustainable living. Be sure to ask an adult for help before making or using a cleaner.
This week Frannie is going to make a super simple, natural cleaner for the wood floors in her home. Follow along with Frannie!
Here is what you'll need:
- A bucket or bowl
- Equal parts vegetable oil and vinegar
- A measuring cup
- An old rag
Here's what you do:
1. Mix the vegetable oil and vinegar.
2. Test the mixture in a small, hidden spot on the wood floor. Apply a small amount to the test area and rub in well. Remember: a little dab will do you!
3. If the floor looks spick and span in the test area, you can use it to clean the rest of the floor!
Share the steps you take to utilize natural products in your home to protect and conserve groundwater!
Frannie is looking forward to continuing her series - The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home - into the New Year! This week is dedicated to both protecting groundwater and conserving it through the three R's - reducing, reusing, and recycling!
Reduce
Frannie finds various ways to reduce her water footprint. Frannie uses The Groundwater Foundation's water-tracking app 30 by 30 to help her reduce her daily direct water use (how much water is used in activities like taking a shower, flushing the toilet, etc.).
Frannie also looks for ways to reduce her indirect water use (how much water it takes to create the products you consume and use - for example, how much water it takes to grow the corn you eat, or grow the cotton used in your shirt). Frannie loves to shop at consignment shops instead of buying newly made clothes! Frannie also tries to eat products that require less water and are grown locally.
Reuse
Frannie loves to find creative ways to reuse everyday products around her house! Frannie also finds practical ways to reuse items as well:
Frannie uses reusable bags for grocery shopping.
Frannie reuses her bath towel.
Frannie also uses a reusable water bottle.
These are just a few ways Frannie reuses everyday items. Can you think of more ideas?
Recycle
Recycling is the process of producing a new item from an old item. Many of the products we use every day can be recycled. Frannie makes sure to remove labels, clean the items, and sort recyclables.
How do you reduce, reuse, and recycle? Share it here!
This is week five in Frannie's series - The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home. This week is dedicated to washing smarter. This includes thinking about the way you bathe, wash your dishes, and your clothes.
Frannie is going to limit the length of her shower to just five minutes, she will set a timer so she knows when her five minutes is up. She is also going to challenge her family members to take five minute showers as well. You can do the same!
Frannie is also looking for ways to conserve water in her closet! Check out her previous post about washing clothes for how to conserve water by re-wearing clothes and only running full loads of laundry.
There are also easy ways to save water when it comes to washing dishes. Skip pre-rinsing dishes and scrap them off in the trashcan instead. And the same rule applies with dishwashers - only run a load when it is full!
Talk to your parents/guardians about upgrading to high efficiency machines when the time comes for replacing old machines. Remember - high efficiency machines can help cut down on the water bill!
Track how much water you are using and how much you save by switching to these easy water-saving methods with The Groundwater Foundation's water-tracking app, 30 by 30!
See you in 2016!
Frannie is continuing to work her way through The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve Groundwater at Home. This week is dedicated to fixing leaks around the house.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency a leaky faucet that drips one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year! Frannie is going to check all the faucets, fixtures, toilets, and taps in her house for leaks. She is also going to make sure they are fixed right away. Frannie also wants to install water conserving methods, like a low-flow shower head or an aerator (a small tool that can be screwed on the faucet head that decreases the amount of gallons per minute that flow out of a faucet).
Check out Frannie's previous blog, Water Leak Detectives, for how to find leaks around your home!
Make sure to share with your parents/guardians if you find any leaks or faucets without aerators during your investigation. Frannie found a faucet in her bathroom without an aerator, she went to the hardware store and bought an aerator and carefully followed the instructions on the packaging.
Tune in next week to continue Frannie's series and learn how to wash smarter!
This week in The Groundwater Foundation's Top 10 List of Ways to Protect and Conserve groundwater at home's series, Frannie will be discussing some easy ways to conserve water every day at home!
This week's theme is Don't Let It Run! Throughout every day we all use the faucet many times - when we brush our teeth, wash our hands, get a drink of water, and for many other activities. Making sure to shut off the faucet when you are not using it is a very simple way to cut down on your water use.
Frannie makes sure to shut the faucet off while she brushes her teeth!
Frannie also washes her fruits and vegetables in a large bowl instead of running the faucet.
Another simple action Frannie takes to cut down on her run time is by keeping a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap until the water is cold.
Download The Groundwater Foundation's 30 by 30 app to track your water use and learn other easy ways to save water every day!
Do you have other ideas of how to save water at home? Share them here!
