Joliet Joins 10th Year Anniversary Of The National Mayor’s Challenge For Water Conservation April 1 – 30

Mayor O’Dekirk, is joining mayors across the country for the 10th Anniversary of the National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation by asking residents to make a long-term commitment to manage water resources more wisely. In return residents can win $3,000 toward their Home Utility Payments, water saving fixtures, and hundreds of other prizes. Plus, one lucky charity from a winning city will receive a 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid to serve the community.

The annual challenge, April 1- 30, is a non-profit national community service campaign that encourages leaders to inspire their residents to make a series of simple pledges at mywaterpledge.com to use water more efficiently, reduce pollution, and save energy. The program was started ten years ago by a handful of mayors who were looking for alternative ways to engage their residents more deeply about the coming water challenges in the United States. Last year, residents from over 2,000 cities in all 50 U.S. states pledged to reduce their annual consumption of freshwater by over 1 billion gallons, reduce waste sent to landfills by 29 million pounds, and preventing hundreds of thousands of pounds of hazardous waste from entering our watersheds. The Challenge goes beyond short term issues and looks at the ways our water use will affect the future of our communities — from how we manage our coasts, lakes, and rivers to reducing polluted runoff.

“Join me in taking the My Water Pledge this April.  As part of our campaign to Rethink Water, I encourage all residents to conserve water, energy and our natural resources,” said Mayor O’Dekirk.

To participate, residents go to mywaterpledge.com, and then make a series of online pledges to conserve water on behalf of the City of Joliet. Cities with the highest percentage of residents who take the challenge in their population category a chance to win $3,000 toward their Home Utility Bills, and hundreds more eco-friendly prizes. In addition, residents can nominate a deserving charity from their city to receive a 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Students and teachers are encouraged to take part, as well.

The 10th Anniversary National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation is presented by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota, with support from the U.S EPA WaterSense, The Toro Company, National League of Cities, Hobie Surf and Petal.