We are lucky that here in Canada water is an abundant natural resource, which means it’s often easy to take it for granted…
This is why Watters Environmental decided to dedicate the month of August to raising water awareness among our team members. Our Living Planet @ Work team set a goal for the 31 days of this past August to not only raise awareness on the importance of water conservation, but to also educate team members on the health benefits water provides (including some lesser-known benefits).
Beginning August 1st, our team embarked on a Hydration Challenge! The goal was to try and drink the Health Canada-recommended 8 glasses of water per day for the month. During this first week, we highlighted the importance of staying hydrated, the benefits of water in relation to our bodies, and even how to check hydration levels. Conveniently, before this first week was over, our Watters team had come to realize that this challenge of drinking 8 glasses of water a day meant a very noticeable increase in the frequency of bathroom breaks!
By week two, our bodies had adjusted to the increased intake of water, so we turned our focus to infusing our water with different ingredients – water is only so exciting on it’s own and we wanted to promote everyone to keep drinking. Lucky for us, we had some amazing team members bring in some of their own flavoured water concoctions and even a mint plant to help us create different flavours to try! In researching different mixes for our water we also learned how different fruit combinations can help detox, purify and energize our bodies while also hydrating us. This helped bring some new excitement and motivation to continue with the hydration challenge.
Week three focused more on ways we conserve water at home. A few of the suggested tips included, turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and washing your hands, decreasing your shower time, and filling up your sink with water to wash dishes instead of letting the water run the entire time you are scrubbing. Even making a few of these small changes can save a tremendous amount of water each year!
Our final week, we concentrated on water as a natural resource. Although water seems to be abundant in Canada, many countries across the world will soon face water scarcity due to increasing populations. This is why it is so important not to look at water as a renewable source and continue to conserve!
Did you know that less than 3% of all the water on earth is fresh water, and of that amount, more than two-thirds are locked up in ice caps and glaciers?
At the time of typing this, its already almost the end of September (time flies!), and we can still confidently say that, generally, our hydration levels are still up, and our team seems more aware of what we can do as individuals to help conserve water. With that said, all in all, the Living Planet @ Work team feels this has been a successful Watters Water Awareness Month, and we look forward to doing it again next year! Congratulations to all the top participants of the hydration challenge who managed to keep momentum and stay hydrated throughout the entire month.
