Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Out of the Mouths of Children

The other day I was watching my three-year-old granddaughter, Brynn, as my daughter had some errands to run and it is always much easier to so without a wee one in tow.  We had eaten a small, but messy snack and as I ran the water wanting it to warm some in order to wash her sticky hands, Brynn looks up at me and says “Grandma, don’t run the water too long, you’re wasting it.”  I responded to this comment in two ways.  First I was absolutely beaming with pride that my very young grandchild could understand that we need to conserve and be mindful about water use.  And, secondly, that I, someone that knows better than to run water to warm it up yet wanted to make sure it was comfortable for her grandchild, was irresponsibly running the water in a very wasteful way.  What an “aha” moment! 
 

Each of us through our everyday actions protect groundwater and sometimes forget or justify why we can’t protect it just now.  The Groundwater Foundation develops programs and projects that can help us better understand how our actions can impact groundwater – the water we drink and the water that grows our food.  Help us as this year draws to a close by becoming a member of The Groundwater Foundation.  Through our work, many other children and adults will know that we don’t need to run the water long enough to warm it up.  It works just fine right out of the tap or if you really want to run it to get warm water then capture the water that is running in a watering can and use it to water your plants.

2 comments:

Josh said...

Call me ignorant, but how do you warm up tap water without letting it run?

The Groundwater Foundation said...

I suppose by microwaving or warming on the stove. However, I think the point my granddaughter was making is that its okay to wash with cool water right out of the tap.