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<br />II" II;: ~ ~I <br /> <br /> <br />c <br /> <br />One Million Toilet Flushes And Counting... <br /> <br />More than 300 Denver-area <br />fiflh gmders will start their <br />summcr breaks helping their <br />families save an estimated four <br />million gallons of water -- that's <br />over a million toilctllushes h <br />as well as money on their utilitv <br />bills, thanks to an award \\-'inning <br />program sponsored by Denvcr <br />Water, Colorado's Occan <br />Journey and thc U.S. Bureau of <br />Reclamation. <br /> <br />The Learning to be Water Wise <br />program is Denver's first <br />schoollhome partnership <br />program to not only teach <br />students and parents the impor- <br />tance of using water wisely, but <br />to also provide the tools to <br />make it happen. The program is <br />uniquc in that students work <br />with their parents in their own <br />homes to complement what <br />they learn in the classroom. <br /> <br />Denver Water, Colorado's <br />Occan Journey and the Bureau <br />ofRcclamation are piloting this <br />program as an initial step in the <br />devclopment ofen\'ironmental <br />programs based on waler. <br /> <br />The program begins with <br />classroom discussions on the: <br />importance of using water <br /> <br /> <br />..1--_ <br /> <br />I- <br />.....r <br /> <br />wisely, followed by hands-on, <br />creative problem solving <br />activities. Students are given <br />kits containing tcchnoloe.icallv <br />- . <br />advanced water s<J\"ing de\"ices, <br />including low-llow shower- <br />heads. toilet leak detection <br />tools, bathroom and kitchen <br />aerators and lawn watering/rain <br />gauges which they install in <br />their homes. Then students <br />monitor and measure the water <br />and money sa\'ed. <br /> <br />Each panicipating household <br />will savc an estimated 26.000 <br />gallons of water and wastewa- <br />ter each year while 100\cring <br />household utility bills by as <br />much as S I 00 annually, <br /> <br />"This is a great way to educate <br />kids and their families about <br /> <br />'T\ <br />.. <br /> <br />"~~..: <br /> <br />~~ ."'~~ <br />.-A <br /> <br />'-" <br /> <br />natural resource issues and <br />eflcctivcly begin to shape new <br />resource habits:' said Everlina <br />Lightner. a liflh grade teacher <br />at Denver's Wyman Elcmen. <br />tary School. "By doing activi- <br />ties with this program. students <br />are not onlv able to feel suc- <br />cessful which helps them to <br />learn, but the\' arc also able to <br />build their self-esteem because <br />they did it themselves." <br /> <br />Learning to be Water\Vise is a <br />program of the nonprofit <br />National Energy Foundation. <br />More infonnation can be <br />obtained from the Learning to <br />he \Vater\Vise web site at <br />www.getwisc.orgorbycalling <br />the program implementation <br /> <br />,..e;wo_........._.._ <br />