Website sets goal to conserve the amount of water lost in UCLA flood
A water main burst on Sunset Boulevard in July, causing about 20 million gallons of water to flood the UCLA campus. (Harrison Liddiard/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Sam Hoff
Oct. 28, 2014 2:36 a.m.
A brother-and-sister team recently built a website designed to encourage people to conserve 20 million gallons of water, the amount lost during the July water main break that flooded UCLA.
Hilary Kraft, an alumna of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, worked with her brother Richard Kraft to build Make It Up LA!, which they describe as a grassroots project to encourage people to save water.
“I saw the news accounts and how much fresh water was being spilled (during the flood) and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what an incredible waste,'” Richard Kraft said. “And then it hit me – is there something we can do to get that water back?”
Hilary Kraft said their goal is to teach people that many small changes can make a large-scale difference. The site also aims to educate people about water conservation because of the California drought, Richard Kraft said.
“Certainly we’re not going to be able to verify people take the actions they take, but what the site really has the power to do is to get people to think more about their daily actions,” Richard Kraft said.
Hilary Kraft said she hopes site users spread the word to their friends, growing the network of people who pledge to conserve water.
Compiled by Sam Hoff, Bruin senior staff.
