Freshwater and U Presentation at School

Well, last night we had our big presentation at school to tell everyone about Freshwater, and what it means to everyone especially those that have none or very little.
My display was set up in the classroom and I had a large calico background, covered with lots of information. I also had a desk for display information and I was able to hand out lots of my brochures and fridge magnets as well as OneDrop's great postcards that had information about water and their organisation as well as a reduced water recipe.

My posters and information included lots of information from www.seqwater.com.au , www.onedrop.org , as well as famous quotes and other information that I have gathered along the way. I have really enjoyed it.

I have included some images below -

 

Here I am with my calico backdrop and desk.

I had a sign that invited people to ask me all about how I saved 37% of our water consumption at home

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another view of my presentation.

 

 

Below are copies of the Fridge Magnet I made and the wonderful brochures that I handed out.

 

It was a great night and I am sure that lots of people will now be following my example and saving water at home.

 

A couple of other things before I take a break from blogging and have a holiday include -

 

My dad and I put a rain gauge up on the 21st of July 2012, and last night after the presentation on Freshwater we received our first 1 mm of rain in it. So no rain for 8 weeks and then it rains just after I tell everyone about how important freshwater is.

 

Secondly I have been having visitors to my blog from all around the world, the latest countries that have found their way here include United States, Russia and Spain. This is great and Spain in particular as I am learning Spanish at school.

 

So thanks for reading my blog again and I will back in action after the school holidays.

Cheers

 

Adios. Hasta pronto.

 

 

 





'Saving the World One Drop at a Time'

Good Afternoon to all of my Followers and Visitors

Today it is still very dry, but I wanted to update everyone on how my school project is going. As you are aware my project is about 'Freshwater and U', and over the last few weeks I have learnt a lot about the issues facing the increasing population and the shortge's we face with clean Freshwater.

As I put my reports and display together ready for next Tuesday's presentation I remember some of the important things I discovered along the way.

1. More than 2 billion people do not have access to reliable clean Freshwater and as a result more than 3 million people die each year because of it.

2. Organisations such as One Drop are out there helping people. I found OneDrp.org when I went to Cirque du Soleil. One Drop was started by the founder of Cirque du Soleil in Canada.
They have also been very supportive of the work I have been doing and have provided some great posters and handouts for my presentation.

Thank you OneDrop.org.   Please visit their website and support them.

3. I have also been lucky to have had support from SEQ Water and I have learnt a lot about how our Freshwater is cleaned and delivered to our home. We are so blessed to have access to clean Freshwater and we need to make sure we use it wisely.

I managed to check out the Capalaba Water Teatment Plant from the outside only.

 

 

seqwater.com.au is a great website to find out alot of things about Freashwater including

• The Water Cycle
• How they make clean Freshwater
• How a Desalination Plant works
• What the SE Queensland Water Grid is
• How to save water
• What we can do

4. Because I now know how important Freshwater is we did surveys at home, made some changes and we managed to reduce our total water usage by 37%.

The changes we made are permanent so we will continue to save water and money.

 

 

 

5. My Dad was so excited about the savings that we are now starting to change the way we use electricity as well.

 

I will keep on Blogging and I can't wait to show you photos of my school presentation.

 

But that's about it for now as I have to go and do some homework, though I would rather be 'Saving the World, One Drop at a Time'.

 

Bye

Matthew

 

Well it has been pretty dry at my place.
We installed a rain gauge on July 21 2012, but to date we have received no rain.
So I thought I would share some tips on water saving in the garden.

1. Mulch your plants
This stops water evaporating from around the plants and also keeps their roots cool. Here you can see our lemon tree and the mulch That we made at home around its base.

2. Use greywater from your washing machine to water the garden.
We hope to set this up soon.

3. Use water from you tank to water your garden as this is good rain water that does not have to be treated and is free from the sky.

 

4. The other thing I need to mention is that I did a personal water usage survey and I found that I use 131 litres per day. This is less than the Brisbane average.

5. I am also working on my Freshwater project for school. We have a big exhibition on Tuesday 18th September. I am completing my Journal and preparing my Display.
Its going to be great.


Stay cool and don't use too much water.
Matthew

Spring is Sprung

Hi There Followers
As you know Spring has sprung here in the Southern Hemisphere and it is a good time to start a new with our freshwater habits.

1. Well we completed our household survey after making a couple of simple changes to our routines.
My Dad

• Replaced the shower head in my shower because we used the most water.
• Fixed the leaky tap in the bathroom.
• And as a family we spoke about conserving water and shortening our shower lengths.

I am pleased to report that we reduced our consumption be 37%. Our consumption dropped from 767 to 482 litres per day.
This is a really good achievement and we will continue to make a change at home.


2. Ever since we put our rain gauge in on the 21st of July we have received no rain. The grass is looking brown, and luckily we have a lot of drought resistant plants (they require not much water to survive). Some rain would be nice though to top up our rainwater tank.

3. Here is a poster for the United Nations 2103 International Year of Water Cooperation.
The website where you can also find out more information is included as well.

http://www.unwater.org/watercooperation2013/


4. Finally some facts about water. As you can see there are lots of people dieing every year because of a lack of fresh water. It is up to us to use it wisely, so that everyone can enjoy this basic right.




http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/


So thanks again, and keep conserving water in every way you can..
Bye for now,

Matthew