It’s summertime! That means warm weather and extra outdoor fun! But it also means no school. Hurray!

While the kids are out of school and sheltering-at-home, we at City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) would like to do our little part to help keep kids busy. Through the rest of the summer, CPAU will be sending bi-weekly emails with resources and activities for your kids to learn about Palo Alto’s energy and water resources and how to use them wisely. This week, we start by examining the resources we have available to us and how we use them around the house.

Learn: Know Your Resources

Where does the electricity in our homes come from? What happens to the water we wash down the sink? How does our hot water get hot? All of these questions relate to our natural resources, which means things that are available on the earth. Humans cannot make natural resources, but they gather them from the earth. Natural gas and water are natural resources that you might use around your house. Your house also uses electricity which is made using natural resources.

The resources that the earth provides for us are either renewable, meaning that the resource is able to be replenished, or nonrenewable, meaning that we will one day run out of that resource. Can you name a few resources that are renewable? Can you name resources that are nonrenewable?

Find: Put Your Knowledge to the Test

Build: Create an Eco Poster

Now that you’ve learned about natural resources and how your home controls their use, it’s time to think about how to use less energy and water. The idea of trying to reduce the amount of resources we use and still get the same benefit is called efficiency. Making those natural resources last a long time is called sustainability.

Proud of your poster? Send a picture to UtilitiesCommunications@cityofpaloalto.org, and we'll share your poster on our social media channels.

Now that you know a little more about resources that CPAU delivers to your home, look out for our upcoming emails where we’ll focus on how we can use them wisely.