Parkview students speak on water conservation

Students in Tammy Janos’ fifth-grade class at Parkview Elementary recently wrote “letters to the editor” as part of a class assignment on water conservation. Here is a sampling of their efforts.

Water savings can be found inside too

California’s in a drought and I think we need to save more water. Our governor has encouraged us to use 15% less water so we have more water left. We have only saved 6% and here are some reasons why. We all get hot in the summer and need water for our lawns (if you have a lawn), our swimming pools (if you have a pool) and even to make lemonade when it gets hot outside. And that’s not even moving indoors!

In the bathroom you can do easy things like take a shorter shower and only have the sink run when you need it to run. In the kitchen you can only run the dishwasher when it is full and wash your fruit in a bowl rather than under the running faucet. In the laundry room, you can only run your washing machine when it is full.

Now that we know how to save, let’s talk about how we’ve saved 6%. People may not know about the 15% and it’s up to people like me and you who know about it to spread how to do it out to the public. Also, some people might not care about saving water. Some people think there is an unlimited supply of water and that water just magically appears for us. If everyone tells one person how and why to save 15% and those people tell someone else we will get the super important news out faster.

— Zach Bishop

Educating the public on water usage

The reasons that people haven’t been able to reduce our water usage by 15%, like Governor Newsom asked us to, are because they don’t know that they are supposed to reduce that water, they don’t know what 15% is, and they don’t know how to reduce water consumption. We need to teach the people of California how to save water. We have only reduced our water consumption by 6%. There are many ways to teach them, like making public announcements and having fundraisers. Governor Newsom even put laws in place to help save water.

If new laws were put in place for this issue, then this matter must be taken seriously. 15% less is easy to find and calculate if you just look at your water bill and multiply the amount of water you have used this month by 0.15, and then subtract that amount from your water usage. There are many ways to reduce water consumption that you can find on the internet. You can take shorter showers, install a rain barrel, or even not eat meat! Even the smallest act can help get California out of this drought.

— Josiah Davids

People should follow our governor’s orders

I have an extremely urgent concern about why citizens have not been able to reduce 15% of their water consumption. Instead, people were only able to reduce 6% of their water consumption. The citizens not being able to reduce 15% is disturbing because freshwater is a precious resource and because of the oncoming drought, people not conserving water is disturbing. Some reasons why the citizens are not conserving enough water is because first, people do not know about the order that Governor Newsom asked for people to save water. Next, some people have large lawns that they want to keep tidy and beautiful. Also, watering lawns takes gallons of water. Following this, people do not know the emergency of saving water.

Finally, people do not know what 15% means and if they don’t know what it means, they can’t save our dwindling water supply. I suggest that you put more articles on why water conservation is important and how to save water. Some simple ways people can save water is by turning off the sink while brushing your teeth. Take shorter showers, washing vegetables inside of a bowl so you do not waste any water. Installing low-flow showerheads can save a lot of water. If you take a lot of long showers, installing these can really add up. If we publish tons of articles on this topic, more people will read about them and more people knowing about this decreases our chances of being in a bigger drought.

— Sasha Iwabuchi

Educating the public on water usage

Thank you for taking the time to read all these letters! Recently I have been concerned that there are too many reasons why people can’t lower their water usage by 15%. Honestly, maybe it’s because they don’t even know why they need to conserve water in the first place! They might think that we will never run out of water. Secondly, they might have never thought about how much water we really have, and the amount we consume. Maybe they know about reducing

15%, but don’t know how much even water is their 15%, so they don’t know how much they need to save! The biggest thing is, no matter how many times you read about it in a newspaper or book, no one could save 15% if they don’t know how to save 15%. It could be possible that they know how much 15% is, but they may think, “I know that this is a big problem, but my lawn is just taking up gallons and gallons of water, I could never save enough water to make even a dent on my water usage.”

Maybe they don’t know that they could save so much water just by making sprinklers into drip systems, washing only full loads of dishes and clothes, and turning off the tap while they are washing hands and brushing their teeth. Could you please, maybe in an already made article, add some ways people could save water in their own home?

— Juliet Macmillan

Helping Earth can benefit your wallet

As you know, little people in the state of California save 15% of their water. It is a big problem because we are in a drought right now meaning that we should save water. I think that the reason that people are not saving 15% of their water is that people don’t know about the 15%, people don’t want to do it, and people don’t know how to save water. We should save water because we use it in our lives each day from cooking, drinking, and cleaning.

People don’t know about saving 15% of water because they haven’t seen or heard about saving 15%. If more radio stations and news stations talked more about the 15%, it would get a lot of attention. Also People don’t want to do it. This might be because they don’t think it is worth their time to check for leaky pipes or checking to see if the sprinklers are watering the grass instead of the sidewalk. All I have to say to not saving 15% of water is that, not only does it benefit the Earth, it benefits your wallet.

Also, people don’t know how to save water. There are many ways to save water, one of them is to step on your grass. If the grass springs up, it does not need water. You could go vegetarian for a week and you can take a 10 minute shower. All in all, the future is in your hands, take care of it.

— Charlie Mahar

Let’s remember that every drop counts

I have noticed that California hasn’t been able to lower their water usage by 15%. I think this is because people might not care or know the importance of saving water. I think people don’t care because they don’t want people telling them what to do. But if people don’t care, they can be hurting our environment. For example, lower water levels can contribute to higher concentrations of natural and human pollutants. Less water going down the drain means more water available in the lakes, rivers and streams that we use for recreation and wildlife uses to survive. Also, wasting water can kill people. Water pollution can cause water to become toxic to humans and the environment. Water is an essential resource for all life on Earth.

If a water source becomes contaminated due to pollution, it can lead to health issues in humans, such as cancer. Some ways people can save water are to turn off the faucet when you are brushing your teeth, and take shorter showers. The average 10-minute shower uses about 18 gallons of water! So keep shower time to a minimum to help reduce water waste. Next, turn off the faucet when you are brushing your teeth. If the tap is running while you are brushing, an average of 4.4 gallons of water will be used per day. That adds up to more than 200 gallons a month. Let’s remember, that every drop counts.

— Anthony Martone

How to change 6% to 15% savings

The governor wants us to save 15% of the water we use, but we have only saved 6%. Why? Here are some reasons why I think we can’t save 15%. The first reason I have is that people’s lawns take a lot of water. You have to water your lawn every day, and have you ever thought that they are taking in a lot of water? According to “HOW TO CALCULATE LAWN IRRIGATION WATER USAGE AND COSTS”, an 100 x 100 square foot lawn uses 6,230 gallons of water per time you turn on the sprinklers. If people are going to save 15% they might need to rip out their lawns!

Also, people might not know how to save water. They might know they’re supposed to save 15% present, but can’t do anything because they don’t know how! They may not know how, so here are some ways you can. First, you can rinse vegetables in a bowl full of water instead of letting the water run. Next, you can pour out extra water from your water bottle on your plants. And finally, you can install rain barrels to your house.

In conclusion, people might not even know they are supposed to save 15% of their water. They may know they are in a drought, but do not know how much water they need to save! They could only be saving 5% when 15% needs to be saved of their water. Please try to save water.

— Kara McLafferty

Some more suggestions on saving water

I think California residents haven’t been conserving 15% for a number of reasons. One reason is that people in California don’t know we are supposed to lower 15%. I didn’t know it until I learned it in class. If people don’t know about what they are presumed to do, they won’t do it. People won’t lower 15% themselves, so 15% won’t be conserved.

Another reason residents haven’t lowered is that they don’t know how much 15% is. 15% is not a lot, but if they don’t know how much that is they could do too little regardless if they know they are supposed to do it. Even if everyone knew they were supposed to save 15%, which not everyone does, if no one knows how much that is, no one will save 15% correctly.

The last reason I think people in California haven’t saved water is that they don’t know how to save it. There are lots of websites on the internet that state easy ways to save, but people don’t think to look up those ways. Even if they know how much 15% is, if they don’t know the ways they can conserve 15%, they won’t.

Here are some ways to conserve water: 1. Take shorter showers. 2. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. 3. Recycle water from your water bottles. 4. Fix any leaks you have. 5. Get a water efficient shower and sink nozzle. Remember, keep reducing to keep producing.

— Michael Melanchuk

Savings will pay off for next generation

In July 2021, Governor

Gavin Newsom announced that California residents need to lower their water use by 15% because of the drought that we´ve been going through.

But, we´ve only been able to lower it by 6%. Why might this be the result? Let’s think. One reason we haven’t been able to reach our goal is that many residents are unaware of the announcement. So, we could possibly emphasize our goal and why it needs to be reached, like talking about it in the newspaper, on the radio, or on television.

Another reason that we haven’t been able to meet this goal might be because, let’s be real, some things that use up water are very enjoyable. Let’s use taking longer showers as an example. For me at least, the warm water and the space that you have, all by yourself, is quite relaxing. But a shower uses about 2.1 gallons of water per minute, and it’s wasteful to use that much water! Just because it’s pleasant for you doesn’t mean it’s easy on the environment. So, the solution could be to cut the long showers, or the unnecessary water that goes into food. It really will pay off for the next generation.

Following and working towards lowering the 15% could help our entire planet become a more sustainable one. I sincerely hope that the community can converse and aim towards a more hopeful future.

— Mandela Miller

An explanation of ‘virtual water’

I often see in some of my neighbors’ yards that their sprinklers water the sidewalk instead of their lawn and garden. I don’t want to criticize or hurt anyone’s reputation in this letter but I noticed that most of the people around me don’t really notice their virtual water use. I’m sure you know what virtual water is but just in case this letter ends up in the newspaper and young children might see it, I’ll explain.

Almost all manufactured products need water in order to be made in the first place. When you throw away objects that could be recycled, reused, or donated you waste virtual water. I think one of the main reasons citizens are wasting water is that they don’t recycle, reuse, or donate a whole lot of their old items and instead they just leave them lying in a landfill where they just sit there and decompose so we have to use even more water to make new products.

Because of this I thought it might be a wise decision to organize community projects to save water like collecting peoples’ recyclables from their house weekly and then sell the materials to companies so they can use the materials to make more manufactured products while using less water. I also suggest asking someone to write an article in the newspaper about saving water. The article would allow people to know about saving water and it was likely people weren’t saving 15% because they didn’t know about it.

— Gordon Mathew Muff

Some simple ways to conserve our water

As you know, California is in and has been in a drought for many years, but have you noticed that people are not doing much to conserve water. Even with the people that are conserving water, it still isn’t enough. California governor Gavin Newsom put laws in place to help us save water in July, 2021. We are supposed to save 15% of the water we use, but Chico residents have been so ignorant of our water usage that we have only saved 6%, about half of what we need to save. I feel that some of the reasons why Chico residents have not been successful in saving 15% are that lawns take so much water and people don’t know whether or not their lawns need watering, people don’t know that we need to save water, or people don’t know how they can save 15% of their water usage.

I believe that some ways that would help lower our water usage and get us out of this drought would be to somehow spread the word that we need to save water and inform people how to save 15%. One thing that people should know is that a lot of water is wasted. A way to know if your lawn truly needs water is to step on it. If the grass springs back, it’s hydrated. Some simple ways to conserve are to take short showers or to turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth.

— Marleau Hidalgo-Mundy

Newspapers, too, are made from water

You probably already know that all living things need water to survive. As humans, we use water for a significant amount of purposes. We eat and drink like other animals, but we also wash our dishes, and clean our clothes. You could look at almost anything around you, and trace it’s making back to water. If you’re holding a newspaper right now, you’re holding a product made from water. According to Newspapers, Waste360, newspapers are made from wood pulp. The wood that the pulp is made from came from a tree, and the tree used water to grow. That’s just one example of why water is a precious resource, and we should save it.

Governor Gavin Newsom has asked the people of California to lower their water consumption by 15% because we’re in a drought, but water usage has only decreased by 6%. The goal of 15% less may not have been achieved for many reasons. People might not know what 15% really means, or how to save that amount of water. People might not even know that they’re supposed to save 15%.

When you think about saving water, you might think about plumbing, or spending lots of money, but saving water doesn’t have to be hard. I’m sure that you’ve heard of taking shorter showers to save water, but you could also make sure not to run loads of laundry unless you have enough clothes to fill the washer. So save 15%, and soon.

— Aiyana Myers

Time to take water conservation seriously

To begin, I have a concern regarding water conservation. California residents haven’t been efficient enough about conserving water in their homes. People haven’t been successful in lowering their water usage by 15%, as Governor Newsom requested. Many people don’t know how or why to conserve water. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that not enough people know about water conservation in basic, which is key for any water conservation to occur. The goal is for Californians to reduce their water usage by 15% but we haven’t been able to accomplish this goal.

Not enough people know what water conservation is. For most Americans, water conservation probably doesn’t even cross their minds, though it’s undoubtedly important. To continue, people don’t know why water conservation is important, or how to conserve water. Water conservation is very important, as it’s vital for our survival. We need to conserve water, because it’s what keeps us alive, as well as our environment, including plants and animals. We need to conserve water, because it is a limitless resource, and if we run out, we will have none for the future, not for recreational uses, not for drinking water, nothing.

As for how to conserve water, there are a number of ways you can do this. The countless ways to do this range from taking a short shower, to planting drought-resistant trees and plants. You can use a bucket to clean your floors, and install low-flow showerheads. In conclusion, Californians need to take conserving water seriously.

— Julie Plummer

Now is the time to start the savings

On July 8, 2021, Governor Newsom asked residents of California to decrease water usage by 15%. So far, the state of California has only been able to decrease water usage by

6%. This is a huge problem. All of California is in moderate drought, where we don’t have enough water for everyone to continue using water much longer. We need water for survival, so if we don’t have enough, people could die. One of the main reasons that people haven’t been able to save water is because people don’t know that we need to save water. This needs to change. Water conservation should become a way of life for everyone.

Water is not something that we have infinite access to, nor is it just something we should just throw away like it is nothing. Water matters. Some things you could do to save water are turn off the water while brushing your teeth and while lathering your hands. Lawns use lots of water to keep looking nice, so next time you are planning on watering your lawn, step on the grass. If it springs back up when you pull your foot away, it doesn’t need water. Also, make sure that if you have sprinklers, they don’t water the sidewalk on windy days. Water matters, so start saving it now!

— Cecilia Potter

No need to keep the water running

I have an ongoing concern that many people haven’t been able to save our water. Recently, Governor Newsom asked us to save 15% of our water. It seems that some people haven’t been able to save our water. There could be many reasons why people haven’t been able to save 15%. Some reasons could be that people maybe don’t know what 15% percent truly means when it comes to our water, and how much 15% of our water is. People could also not know that we need to save 15% of our water, they could have not heard about our situation. There are many reasons why we should conserve our water, and how. A way you can save water is to not use your toilet as a garbage bin, and don’t throw trash in it. Some other ways to conserve water are taking shorter showers, don’t leave the water running when doing activities like brushing your teeth. Some reasons why we should conserve water is because we don’t have an infinite amount of it, it can save energy, it can help the ecosystem and wildlife, and because we need it to survive, and so do a lot of other living organisms.

— Emma Oblinger-Renner

Not doing our part to save 15%

The entire state of California is in a drought; this is well known. Still, Californians have only saved 6%, not our goal of 15%, less on water. This might be because they might not know how to lower it, they might not know what 15% is, and they might not know how much water they’re using.

To begin, water is very important for our daily lives; to drink it, to play in it, and to stay healthy and alive. 15% means to decrease our water usage by 15%; a lot of people may not know what that means, which causes problems with saving water. 15% shows that we have to save 15% of the water usage currently.

Next, there are so many ways you can conserve water throughout the state of California: installing low flow shower heads, pouring unused water from water containers into any plants you may have, and taking shorter showers. Still, we haven’t saved 15% of our water, and I think this is because people might not know how to save it; you can’t save or conserve water if you don’t know how to, and what you’re doing.

Finally, checking water can tell you how much water you’re using; anyone can save water by checking. Alas, not many people know how to check it. This isn’t helpful because if you don’t know how much you saved in water, then you can’t lower the water usage. This poses a problem in the goal of saving water by 15%.