Back in the 1960s, voters in Wisconsin elected Gaylord Nelson to the U.S. Senate. He was very troubled by the WIDESPREAD environmental problems he saw in our country and wanted the nation’s leaders to know that millions of Americans cared about these issues.

His big idea was to have “teach-ins” about the environment all over the nation, all on the same day—April 22, 1970. Through knowledge, he planned on empowering millions of young people to help our planet and to send their message to Washington.

Don’t Let the Rain Go To Waste

I was out walking in the gardens at Holladay and thought, “Hey, you know what would be a cool idea? To put a 60-gallon barrel under the rain spout.” I was guessing where the water came off the roof and thinking how the rainwater travels through the gutters.

In class, we made rain gauges and plotted gutters on maps in our journals. The rain gauges are water bottles. We cut the top off of each bottle and stuck it upside down into the rest of the bottle. Then we copied a ruler on a strip and taped it on the bottle. After a day or two, the rain filled them up about an inch. I didn’t know if we’d get enough water to use, but I was pretty sure we would because the roof is big.

Next, the class put a blue barrel under a spout. We had to flatten the dirt and put bricks under the barrel to make it more stable. It has a lid, which keeps the water from evaporating. In a few days the barrel filled up! We thought it might get around 5 inches of water in it, but we’re pretty sure it overflowed because the ground was wet!

We dug a trench from the barrel leading to the garden to catch the overflow. We are watering the plants with harvested rainwater.

Water-Saving Tips Aren’t for Drips

Water is one of the most basic things we need to live. Water is even more important to us since we live in the desert, and our water supply is very limited. We really need to take water conservation seriously. Here are some tips:

• Take a shower instead of a bath. A shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water while a bath uses up to 70 gallons of water! And limit showers to less than five minutes.
• When you brush your teeth, don’t let the water run. You could save eight gallons a day and 200 gallons a month just by turning off the faucet!
• Ask your parents to help you check your toilet for leaks. You could be wasting 200 gallons of water every day with just one leaky toilet.
• Tell your parents that it’s a good idea to water plants early in the morning or at night so that water doesn’t evaporate as fast as it would during the day.
• Only run your washing machine and dishwasher when they’re full.

What can YOU do to help?

• Plant a tree.
• Use less water and electricity.
• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
• You also can help get the word out about ways to help our planet!

We Need to Clean Up the Earth

Our Earth is in danger! Earth is getting filled with trash, but you can PROTECT the Earth and keep it from turning into a dump.

Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has animals, humans and plants. Some people don’t care what happens when they throw trash in parks, lakes and ponds. Animals can die because they swallow small pieces of trash. Plants die because the garbage pollutes the water they need to grow.

Here’s what you can do to help—pick up trash at a nearby park or in your own neighborhood. One of the best ways, though, is to not litter in the first place. If you litter, then it accelerates Earth becoming a trash planet. The Earth and every animal, plant and human needs you to help stop Earth from becoming a dump.

Earth Day Challenge

Your family replaces its old 3.5-gallon-per-flush toilet with a shiny new High Efficiency Toilet (HET) that only uses 1.3 gallons per flush. If each person uses the toilet five times a day, how much water will a family of four save each day?

a) 4.4 gallons/day

b) 44 gallons/day

c) 440 gallons/day

ANSWER: b) 44 gallons/day