Conservation

Drinking Water

• Even though most of the earth is made up of water, only 3% of it is available for drinking!
• The rest of the water is salt water or water contained in the ice caps
• If a full bathtub represented all the water on earth, just a teaspoon of this water would represent our drinking water

Our Responsibility

• We all share this water
• Everything that lives needs fresh water to survive, plants, animals, the endangered northwest salmon that lives in our lakes and streams, and of course, us humans
• But helpless plants, land, and sea animals don’t use as much water as we do, and they certainly can’t do anything about the water that we use and waste
• It’s our job to take care of the earth and our water supply by being smart about the water that we use

How You Can Help

• Using water wisely will help make sure that we all have plenty of clean water to use
• It is important not to waste water in your home
• Maybe you can start an environmental club in your community or school and think of new ways to be environmentally friendly with your friends!

Glad you asked!

• Believe it or not, 70% of the earth is covered with water!
• Even though you can’t see it, there is a lot of water underground called groundwater that soaks into the ground from rain, snow, sleet, and hail

Wetlands

• There’s also a lot of land on the earth that’s just really wet, called wetlands
• We call these areas swamps, bogs, and marshes

Saltwater

• The rest is salt water or contained in the ice caps
• All of this water, just like the water in the ocean, will make its way into the never-ending, amazing water cycle