About Saving Water Saves the Planet
A Girl Scout Gold Award project on a mission to help every homeowner save water, one tree at a time.
Hi -- I'm Elina, a Girl Scout senior, and this nonprofit project is my Gold Award. The Gold Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, and it asks you to solve a problem in your community. I chose water.
Only 2% of the water on Earth is drinkable freshwater. The other 98% is salt water. With 8.1 billion people sharing that tiny slice, every gallon matters -- especially in drought-prone places like California, where lawns and gardens use enormous amounts of water every year.
My project helps homeowners save up to 50% of their backyard water by building a simple homemade irrigation system: a deep-watering pipe that delivers water directly to the root zone of a tree, so almost none of it evaporates at the surface.
Up to 50% reduction in irrigation use.
Deep roots grow stronger and faster.
About $30 builds five pipes from hardware-store parts.
How a deep-watering pipe works
The pipe is buried vertically next to a tree. Water you pour in flows down through holes drilled at three different depths. The smallest holes near the bottom let water seep slowly to the deepest roots; the larger holes near the top water the shallower roots quickly. Below the surface, the water can't evaporate, so almost all of it goes to the tree.
Ready to build one?
The build is the fun part, and you only need a trip to the hardware store to get started.