An Empowering Approach to Saving Water

There is an oft-quoted saying that when “life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade” but it’s hard to apply that to our current drought situation in California, where grassy front yards are destined to go the way of the extinct woolly mammoths in the nearby La Brea Tar Pits.

And although the Los Angeles Times reported that Department of Water and Power (DWP) customers in the City of Los Angeles reduced their water consumption by about 10% in April of this year, we all have a long way to go to get to the 25% cut in water use ordered by Governor Jerry Brown.

Enter the nonprofit ETTA, founded in 1993 in Los Angeles, and merged with OHEL in 2012, which serves people with developmental disabilities and their families. Last year, ETTA received a grant from the DWP and Councilmember Paul Krekorian to teach people with special needs about water and energy conservation. ETTA clients helped to develop a special PowerPoint presentation and easy-to-use checklist using information supplied from the DWP.

ETTA clients were also featured in a fun, educational water/energy conservation video produced by Inclusion Films, whose Creative Director is actor and producer Joey Travolta, older brother of actor John Travolta. And best of all, through a grant from Autism Speaks, two adults with developmental disabilities were paid stipends to present this information to other adults with special needs, along with agency staff.

The tips to save water are common sense and inexpensive to do: take shorter showers, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and use food dye to check if your toilet is leaking, for example. ETTA is taking their own advice to heart, and has made a number of home modifications in their four licensed group homes such as installing 6 low-flow toilets and 16 water-regulating shower heads, saving both money and water.

In the community, they have trained over 350 people and given presentations at ten different locations and agencies including Yachad, JFS/Chaverim, New Horizons, ARC and the Westside Regional Center. Adam Rhodes, the ETTA staff member overseeing this project, said the DWP grant ends June 18, but they hope to get it renewed next year.  In turning the challenge of our on-going drought into an opportunity for outreach, education and empowerment, ETTA is showing us how to make that proverbial lemonade without adding any extra water.