Water! It’s everywhere, covering two-thirds of the planet; it even makes up around 60% of the human body. Water is important for all living things and that’s why protecting it is one of the biggest ways you can be an eco-hero. Most of the planet’s water is in the oceans and too salty for us to drink, which makes freshwater a precious resource.

The Great Lakes store a whopping 95% of the freshwater for all of North America! That’s one-fifth of the entire world’s supply of fresh surface water, and only 1% of this water is renewed every year by rain and snowfall. With freshwater being so important you would think that people living close to it would be great water protectors. In fact, locals living right beside the Great Lakes, like in Ontario, waste a ton of water.

Did you know… the average person in Ontario uses 260 litres of water per day! That’s twice as much as countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, and WAY more than in the developing world.

What can you do to help stop all of this water wasting? That’s easy! The best place to start is the bathroom where nearly 65% of all indoor water use occurs. Now that you are in the right room of the house, consider these simple steps to be a water saving hero.

• Fix leaky taps; a leak of only one drop per second wastes about 10,000 litres of water per year.
• Encourage your parents to install water-saving devices like low-flow showerheads and toilets.
• Take shorter showers (five minutes, tops).
• Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth.

For more H2O knowhow check out National Geographic’s water facts:

• 25 Ways You Can Be a Water Hero
• 20 Cool Things About Water