Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

•Evaluate the pros and cons of tap water v. bottled water.

•Use listening skills and strategies to understand informational text.

•Use viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret a film clip.

•Discuss the dangers of chemicals in personal care and cleaning products.

•Try minimizing their water consumption for one day.

•Make and try one homemade, all-natural cleaning or personal care product.

•Journal about their experiences.

Teaching Process

1. By a show of hands, ask students to vote for which they think is better – tap water or bottled water.

2. Explain that tap water is better. It is less expensive, and the federal government requires far more rigorous testing and monitoring of tap water. Bottled water causes pollution and uses nonrenewable fossil fuels when the bottles are created, filled, and transported to stores. Empty plastic water bottles often end up in landfills. And bottled water costs hundreds or thousands of times more than tap water. (Compare $0.002 per gallon for most tap water to a range of $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon for bottled waters.) Plus, as much as 40 percent of bottled water is bottled tap water anyway, so we might as well get it from the tap and eliminate the extra expense and pollution!

3. Tell students that there are other ways that we can manage our water resources in a way that limits pollution. One way is to minimize the amount of chemicals that we put in our drains from cleaning and personal care products. These items often contain chemicals that:

•Are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

•Have caused mutations in fish.

•Are still present in “finished” drinking water that has already been treated.

•Do not have sufficient data on them for scientists to determine how much of the chemical is “safe” for human exposure.

4. Colin Beavan, an environmental writer who lives in New York City, researched some of the other ways that chemicals linger in the environment. Read the book excerpt.

5. Explain that the No Impact project was a year-long experiment by Beavan and his family where they examined their lives, exchanged old habits for more environmentally-friendly ones, and discovered in the process that such changes actually made them happier and healthier. Tell the class that you are going to play a short video clip that shows Beavan at the point in the No Impact project where he is trying out different ways to keep chemicals out of water and conserve energy. Then, show the clip.

6. Discuss:

•What were Beavan’s concerns about the cleaning supplies he already had? (Possible answers: They came in single use disposable plastic bottles; he didn’t know exactly what was in them so they could be polluting the waterways; he could create his own natural cleaning products for less money)

•How would using homemade cleaning supplies help keep water clean?

•What kinds of cleaning products do the families of your students use at home?

7. Tell students that according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people in the world still lack access to clean water. The privilege of being able to turn on your tap and have drinkable water come out is one that we should be thankful for and protect. Point out that we can take care of our water by not wasting it and by keeping harmful chemicals out of our drains. Challenge students to try two experiments of their own that will help them conserve water and decrease the chemicals that they put in the water supply.

8. For the first one, have students choose one day sometime over the next week when they will reduce their water consumption to the bare minimum. To prepare, students should think about how they currently use water and research strategies to help them reduce, such as:

•Brush your teeth using a cup of water to wet and rinse your toothbrush, rather than letting the faucet run.

•Reuse the same glass all day instead of dirtying up several.

•Play music while you are in the shower and try to finish in one song or less.

•Skip the shower altogether and instead sponge-bathe with a washcloth.

•Only flush when you must. “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” (Hint: Put down the lid.)

•Scrape dirty dishes instead of rinsing them.

•Etc.

Students should carefully document in a journal how they both saved and used water throughout the day, and then reflect on which strategies were the easiest and most difficult to do.

9. For the second experiment, students will need to make and try one homemade, all-natural cleaning or personal care product and journal on the experience. Students can consult the recipes for all-natural products that Beavan provides on his No Impact Man blog, or they could simply brush their teeth or wash their hair using baking soda.

10. At the end of the week, collect the journal entries and debrief about the assignment. What strategies do students think they will continue moving forward?

Teachers Notes

To view the video clips, you will need access to the "No Impact Project" video through the No Impact Project web site.
Video clip - "All-Natural Cleaning" (4:18) from 38:10 to 42:28

Assessment/Evaluation

Students can be assessed on:

•Participation in class discussions.

•Completing the two experiments.

•Thoughtful reflections in their journal entries.