(upbeat music) - Well, hey everybody.

I'm just here taking care of my lovely tomato plant.

Isn't it good?

I mean, we've got little starts to some tomatoes here.

I'm so excited because later on this year, those are going to be so delicious to eat.

There are many ways to take care of the earth.

And when we think of helping to take care of the earth, we often think and talk about recycling and picking up trash.

And that's a great thing, right?

What are some other ways we can help take care of the earth?

Well, one is we could think about energy efficient light bulbs.

Did you know that there's different types of light bulbs and some use less energy than others?

And that's a great way, 'cause it can can conserve and save energy.

Another way we can help protect our earth is to drive less.

Did you know cars can pollute the air, and so biking more, how many of you love to ride a bike?

I get out there and biking is awesome.

It's fun.

It's great exercise.

And it puts less pollution in the air.

And so there's lots of different ways that we can talk about protecting the earth but the one we're going to focus on today is about conserving water.

Now water is something called a renewable resource, and do you know what that means?

Renewable resource means that it is something that can be used again.

And that's really awesome because it can be replenished, reused.

And we know that water we can get it from rain, right?

And then it can be filtered through and we can drink it even though it's been on the ground, and it can be replenished.

That's what a renewable resource is.

And so while water is a renewable resource, there are many cases where water cannot be replenished quickly or sometimes not even at all.

It may take a long time.

So when more water is being used than what is being replenished, it can create something called a water shortage.

And when there are times of drought, which a drought means that there has not been enough rain, it can add to the problem of water shortages.

Now you might be thinking, how can I directly affect how much water is available and if it's clean or not?

All those things we mentioned at the beginning about ways to help take care of the earth can help by reducing the amount of pollution in the air, which will affect our water too.

So those are some ways that you can affect the water and it being used again.

But it's also important to understand that there are ways that we can conserve water.

One of the easiest ways you can conserve water is when you're brushing your teeth.

Let's say I'm brushing my teeth, right?

I put the toothpaste on.

I like to get my toothbrush and my toothpaste just a little bit wet at the beginning.

And then I start to brush my teeth.

But did you know that some people leave the sink on the whole time while they're brushing their teeth?

So they're brushing away and that water is just running, but that wastes so much water.

So once you have your toothbrush wet, you don't really need the water running, do you?

So go ahead and turn that water off at the faucet while you keep your teeth so nice and pretty.

And by doing that, did you know you can save up to 1,500 gallons per year for each person?

That means you are directly affecting the water supply and you are conserving water.

That's a lot of water.

Think about 1,500 gallons.

If we had this full, this is about a gallon, it's close.

So 1,500 of these pitchers full of water.

That's how much water you could save in a year just by turning off that faucet when you're brushing your teeth.

So that's a great way.

Another way could be, maybe you're taking a shower, and not taking one for 15 or 20 minutes long, right?

Now I'm not saying to not take showers or get clean, 'cause that's important, but make sure that you're not just simply wasting time, and that you're helping to conserve our water.

So now that you know some ways to conserve water, talk with your friends, talk with your family about how you might help take better care of our planet this week and you can directly affect that and protect our planet.