Student Perspective

I am a junior in high school who cares about my future. I try to do my part when it comes to conserving resources and protecting our environment. I do this because I feel that as human beings we are responsible for keeping the planet clean and healthy. We don’t have another planet to live on after we trash this one, so we all collectively need to help keep our planet clean.

Water is a resource that is taken advantage of by students my age every day. I see kids throwing bottles of water on each other for their birthdays and kids who drink half a bottle of water and then throw it away. I am always aware and conscious of how much water I use and I try to conserve as much as possible everyday. I drink filtered tap water from my reusable water bottle and I never buy single use plastic bottles. My showers are usually five minutes or less, and while I lather, I turn off the water. I never keep the water on while I brush my teeth or while I wash the dishes.

Although I do these small things, I can’t say that I see my fellow classmates and friends do the same. An example is my best friend who takes twenty minute showers and keeps the water running while he brushes his teeth. I try to help give him tips on how to work on conserving water, but he finds it to difficult or pointless. That is the kind of attitude most kids at my age have. Unfortunately they feel that recycling and picking up trash isn’t a true solution to anything.

If every kid at my age grew up with the ideas of conservation and ways to help the planet then we would have a much cleaner and different world. Educating kids about where their water comes from and why it is so important to conserve water would benefit them so much. The key is for kids to understand why they are doing something, because if an authority figure wants them to change then odds are they won’t. The reason why water is such a valuable resource in San Diego in particular is because of our climate and location. We only get 10-20 % of our water from rainfall and we rely on the Colorado River and Northern California for the rest. Our weather in San Diego is sunny and dry about 264 days a year. Our climate and location makes us as residents very reliant on the 480 million gallons of water we import each day.

The simplest things a high school student can do are taking short showers, turning off the faucet when they don’t need it on, and to never waste water. I cringe when I see people over watering their lawns or washing down their driveways. It is the equivalent to pouring money down the drain in my eyes. My neighbor is a person who totally overuses water every single day. She washes down her driveway three to four times a week and fills her trash can to the brim and then flushes it into the storm drain every week. I have never understood why she does this but I have asked her before why she does and she responded with, “Because this is a free country!” I couldn’t believe it! I am very wary about my future and my children’s future because our valuable resources are being washed down people’s driveways like my neighbor everyday. So make sure to get the word out to your friends and family about little things they can do to help conserve and reuse water in their everyday lives.

Written by Evan S., a student at High Tech High in San Diego