Looking for a fun activity to do by yourself or with your family? Yesterday, I challenged my family members to calculate their average daily water use using the Southwest Florida Water Management District Water Use Calculator.

At dinner, we discussed our water use. Surprisingly, my 8-year old daughter used the least amount of water, at just 49 gallons per day, while my 11-year old son came in a close second, with 52 gallons per day. His competitive spirit pledged to do better so that he can beat his sister.

Searching for ways to cut, he noticed that he had one more load of laundry each week. This is a lesson that I have been trying to teach him for years; putting clean clothes into the laundry makes for unnecessary loads, which wastes water and time. He finally gets it. We’ll see now if he will he clean up his room with water conservation in mind.

My equally competitive daughter has also pledged to cut down on her water use to stay the most water-efficient family member. At the end of the month, we will calculate our water use again to see who was able make the most cuts.

What they don’t know is that I plan to make substantial cuts and will come out the winner. They might be competitive, but I invented competition and I will win. Stay tuned.

This April marks Florida’s 22nd year declaring April as water conservation month. To learn more about where your water comes from and conservation approaches register for our free “April is Water Conservation Month” webinar, set for 10:30 a.m. April 15 (a Wednesday).

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