Is your school doing their part to save water?
20 April 2012
As our population expands and lifestyles change, demand for water is steadily increasing as individuals, households, agriculture and industry are using more and more water.
In England, water is pumped from rivers and the ground to supply our water needs. We rely on winter rain to top up groundwater and reservoir levels and summer rain to help maintain reservoir levels and keep rivers flowing. A period of low rainfall such as a dry winter (like the one we just had) can lead to water shortages; something the UK is presently facing, with many regions officially in drought.
The water available in our environment is therefore limited and if we take too much, our rivers, streams and wetlands will dry up, with devastating effects for wildlife, vegetation and water based recreation.
There is no way to know how long water shortages will last for, so to help protect our environment we all need to do our bit to make the water we use go further.
What can your school do?
Take action
As part of your Environmental Review, do an audit to determine your school’s current water use and include in your Action Plan where and how you can cut back and make water savings. Make sure the audit results and Action Plan are shared with the whole school.
One of the simplest ways to save water is to tackle flushing the toilet, so why not start there? Get your students to complete the Pod’s Flushed with Success activity and work out how much water your school could save?
Another way to save water is to drink tap water instead of bottled. Using the Pod’s Lose your Bottle activity get your to students carry out an audit of how much bottled water other students at school use. They can then run a campaign to make the whole school aware of the benefits of refilling bottles from the tap instead of buying new ones.
Why not reward your students' efforts by awarding them one of the Pod’s certificate.
Learn
Introduce the water topic and its issues to your classes.
The Pod’s water information pack and their Flushed with Success and Lose your Bottle lesson plans are a good place to start. Don’t forget to check out the Pod curriculum guide to see where these activities and lesson plans can support teaching across the curriculum.
Eco-Schools also have a new range of lesson ideas that have been designed to link environmental topics to the curriculum. Visit our Eco-Schools Free Resources section and download the lesson ideas that focus on water.
The Waterwise website also offers some fun water facts, tips for saving water in schools, and a selection of fun games for your students to learn a bit more about water.
Spread the water efficiency message
Interested in learning more about drought? Visit: