It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Have a Green Halloween!}

Happy Halloween, friends!

Whether you’re going to a costume party or staying at home watching scary movies, here are 5 tricks to make this Halloween a treat for the Earth.

1) Use the whole pumpkin. Jack-o-Lanterns are a favorite part of many people’s Halloween.  By buying from a local pumpkin patch, you are reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to transport the pumpkin to the store. That saves water!  Try roasting the seeds for a salty snack or using the innards to make pumpkin pie. And once Halloween is all over, you can put your pumpkin in the compost.

2) Instead of regular candy, hand out treasures!  Treasures can be little trinkets like seed packets or items made from recycled materials that will last longer than one night and can help reduce packaging waste. Can’t give up your sweet tooth? Instead of buying your Halloween candy at a store, buy it from a group that is raising money to support an amazing cause.

3) DIY your Halloween decorations! Frannie has shown you in previous blogs some ways to make cool Halloween decorations out of materials you can easily find in your house. Even better, you can recycle or reuse them after you’re done!

4) Help your candy wrappers rise from the dead! If you’re really crafty, you can take your used candy wrappers and make cute barrettes, hair bows, and broaches. For a simpler option, send your candy wrappers to Terracycle’s Candy Wrapper Zero Waste Box. There, candy wrappers are repurposed and used to make notebooks, tote bags, and much more.

5) Costume-swap with your friends! Did you know that it takes 713 gallons of water to make a single cotton t-shirt? Many Halloween costumes are made up of multiple pieces and most costumes will only be worn once and then thrown away. Save water (and time and money shopping for costumes) this year by swapping costumes with your friends or jazz up last year’s costume with some new accessories!

Have a Green Halloween!

BLOG: Groundwater Has Its Own Voice

by Jane Griffin, The Groundwater Foundation

At the Groundwater Foundation, we always say that we are the voice of groundwater. Little did we know - groundwater has its own voice! Most of us don’t ever hear it, because most of us do not spend time thousands of feet under the earth’s surface.

I was recently driving home from a tennis tournament, listening to a program on the radio and I heard the sound of groundwater, thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. I could hardly believe it! It was fascinating, especially because I never expected to hear the sound of groundwater!

If you want to hear the sound of groundwater, and a very interesting story about Elements, then tune into this podcast (the story begins about about 56:15).  Enjoy listening and envisioning the magic of groundwater as it moves through the water cycle, thousands of feet below the earth’s surface!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Top 5 Reasons to Carry a Reusable Water Bottle}

Frannie knows how important it is to drink plenty of water throughout the day, but she also knows that using a reusable water bottle is better for the environment and our health than purchasing bottled water! For this Water-Wise Wednesday, Frannie is going to go through her top 5 reasons for using a reusable water bottle.

Top 5 Reasons for using a reusable water bottle:

1. It's EASY to use! Most places you go have water fountains where you can fill up your water bottle. And if you don't want to drink water? You can still ask your server, cashier, or barista to fill up your reusable bottle with coffee, pop, tea, or one of your other favorite beverages!

2.  It is healthier to use bottles that are free from chemicals like bisphenol A, often referred to as BPA. BPA is an industrial chemical that can have possible negative health effects on your brain.  Plastics marked with recycle codes 3 and 7 may be made with BPA. Almost all reusable water bottles are BPA-free.

3. Getting water from the tap is cheaper than buying bottled water.  Bottled water can cost up to 500 times more than tap water!

4. It saves water! Making new plastic bottles takes a LOT of water.  In fact, it takes more water to produce one plastic bottle than the water put into the bottle for drinking!

5. It's better for the environment.  Using reusable water bottles is better for the environment because it reduces your carbon footprint.  Producing new, disposable water bottles uses many fossil fuels and releases toxins into the air during production.

Frannie also likes to make her tap water yummier! Sometimes she will let her water bottle chill in the fridge so it’s nice and cold.  It saves water since you don’t have to run the tap and wait for the water to get cold!


She also likes to add fruits or veggies to her water to give it a little extra taste.  One of Frannie’s favorite summer drinks is chilled water with cucumber slices.  It’s a healthy refreshing drink to treat your brain to after taking those hard midterm exams!

Where do you take your water bottle? What's your favorite drink to put inside it?  Share with us by email or by tagging us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

BLOG: Earth Science Week and Groundwater

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

October 14-20 is Earth Science Week. Organized by the American Geosciences Institute annually, the week helps the public better understand and appreciate Earth sciences and encourages stewardship of the earth.

Groundwater should be an important component and focus of the Earth sciences, and learning about it can be a fun way to celebrate Earth Science Week. Here are a few fun activities to help you discover more about groundwater and how it fits with Earth science.

1. "See" groundwater with an Awesome Aquifer Kit.
Build your own working aquifer model and "see" groundwater. The kit includes six advanced groundwater demonstrations - groundwater terminology, its role in the water cycle, the makeup of an aquifer, contamination, and clean up.

2. Growing with Groundwater.
Create a mini terrarium that demonstrates the different phases of the water cycle, and learn about the four basic elements needed for plant, animal, and human survival (soil, water, sunlight, air).

3. Aquifer in a Cup
Create a mini aquifer model with just some gravel and/or sand, a clear cup, and water. Learn cool groundwater terminology - water table, saturated zone, unsaturated zone.

4. Water Cycle Bangles
Water is constantly moving around, through and above the earth as a gas (water vapor), a liquid, and
as a solid (ice). This never ending process is called the hydrologic cycle. Make a bracelet and learn how water moves.

5. There's No New Water
Learn how much water is on the planet and where it's stored. You may be surprised to learn that groundwater and fresh water make up a very small percentage of the Earth's total water supply!

Want to find more hands-on activities? Check out of online activity library and search by age, topic, duration, and more. Earth Science Week also has an online toolkit with a variety of resources - posters, data, lab activities, and other science-focused tools.