Designated by the United Nations in 1993, March 22 is World Water Day, a public awareness campaign focused on protecting the world’s fresh water supply. The theme for 2013 is International Year of Water Cooperation, aiming to promote the kind of global effort that negotiated 200 water treaties over the past 50 years.
Events are taking place worldwide on March 22. Find something in your area or choose one of the following ideas for celebrating World Water Day (WWD) as a family.
Infographic courtesy of: Bathshop321.com
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Join kids in the Walking for Water Initiative
In developing countries around the world, many children must walk 6 km (or 3.7 miles) each day just to access clean water. To help other kids understand the impact of this, Walking for Water participants (ages 10-15) will trek 6 km while wearing a backpack of 6 liters of water. The event began in the Netherlands in 2003 and raised 1.2 million euros in 2010.
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Have a family competition to conserve the most water.
Conservation is key. One bathroom retailer in the UK launched a Water Usage Survey with their customers and posted the survey results as well as tips for conservation (they also designed the above WWD infographic). Check them out as well as these 100+ household tips for your own family water usage competition. Up the stakes by allowing the winner to choose this year’s family vacation.
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Get crafty with recycled water bottles.
Turn the caps into colorful magnets or pin cushions. Or try one of these craft options for repurposing plastic water bottles.
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Create art for the world.
You and your kids can send WWD-related pictures, artwork or videos to the campaign on the WWD website, and they will be shared with the world via social media. The site also has downloadable posters and calendars, a logo builder and other fun stuff for the kids.
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Watch a movie.
Such as the award-winning documentaries Blue Gold and Tapped. Both films focus on the privatization and corporate theft of the world’s dwindling water supply. Kids will prefer the animated five-minute The Story of Bottled Water, which looks at how the media convinced us that pricey bottled water is better than free tap water.
I love this post! It’s so important to spread the awareness on the importance of conserving water. I especially enjoyed reading about the meaningful ways to get our kiddos involved. Wearing a backpack full of water, creating water art, and repurposing water bottles is so relatable for the next generation to learn from. Thanks for the ideas.
Thanks for this post, Donna! And thanks especially for pointing out that it’s World Water Day on March 22nd - I didn’t even know! I’m featuring this post on the Simple Daily Change Facebook page on March 22nd, 2013, from 6pm to 8pm PST.
Thanks, Sara! I love your website and your tweets.