The Southwest Florida Water Management District is unveiling a new online tool to help students and teachers determine how much water they can conserve at home and pledge to make a difference.
The District’s Youth Education Section launched the new web-based water conservation challenge for schools in anticipation of water conservation month, which begins in April. Each year the state, water management districts, and local governments recognize April as water conservation month because it is traditionally one of the driest months of the year and typically marks the start of the peak demand season for public water suppliers.
Teachers and students can visit WaterMatters.org/classchallenge/ for the opportunity to pledge to conserve at least 10 gallons of water per day.
Once a class completes the online challenge, they will receive a free conservation challenge kit that includes a class conservation poster, watershed stickers, home water use surveys, leak detection tablets, bookmarks and pencils.
They will also be able to develop a plan for a conservation activity through the web page.
Web site visitors can also view a list of 20 classroom conservation activities, complete with instructions. The goal of these activities is to inspire greater awareness of water conservation throughout the school and community. A sample Water Conservation Month proclamation for schools to use as part of school news broadcasts is also available on the site.
Classrooms that report back by April 30 may be featured on the District’s education web page.
In conjunction with the web-based water conservation challenge, the youth education staff is also mailing water conservation stickers to the schools and will also participate in a variety of environmental and outdoor events throughout April. The stickers will be placed in thousands of student planners throughout the District as a means to extend the water conservation message home.