Clean water starts in our watersheds!
October 15, 2010 is Blog Action Day for Water. Today 5,697 Blogs in 143 Countries with a readership of 41,224,536 will write about water.
Blog Action Day is an annual event sponsored by Change.org
I think water is a miracle in every sense of the word. Just look how rare it is in your universe. We need to keep it clean, pollution free, safe, accessible, and free.
I celebrate blog action day by bringing awareness to the critical importance of watersheds and protecting them from harm.
Please enjoy my youtube video slide show tribute to Chapman Creek in Wilson Creek, BC on the Sunshine Coast, Canada, back with a haunting and beautiful soundtrack by Allison Barkley.
VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVrZUDbwb4
Four Seasons of Chapman Creek Watershed
Photography Duane Burnett. Music Allison Barkley.
You might also enjoy this video about protecting the world's oceans, the source of rain water and life on Earth, from oil spills, tankers, and deep sea drilling catastrophes and ecocide's. The lyrics emphasize the importance of leaving oil dependency.
VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZwdGdfgr74
Oil BP parody (OPP Naughty by Nature)
Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year's topic is water.
WHY WATER?
Reprinted from http://blogactionday.change.org/why-water
Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.
Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.
But, water moves beyond just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue, an animal welfare issue, a sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, deserving a global conversation.
The problem of scarce clean water:
Reprinted from http://blogactionday.change.org/blog/
Nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water, which causes a litany of struggles, diseases and even death.
40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.
38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.
Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.
A Human Right: In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.
Water over-consumption in industrialized countries:
While the developing world faces a water crisis, those in industrialized countries consume far more than their fair share.
Food Footprint: It takes 24 liters of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe.
Technology Footprint: The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that's 40 million liters to charge those alone.
Fashion Footprint: That cotton t-shirt you're wearing right now took 1,514 liters of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 liters.
Bottled Water Footprint: The US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.
Water and the environment:
The disregard for water resources in industrialized countries impacts more than humans – it causes environmental devastation.
Waste Overflow: Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water sources. This not only negatively impacts the environment but also harms the health of surrounding communities.
Polluted Oceans: Death and disease caused by polluted coastal waters costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year.
Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.
Water solutions:
The good news is that there are great organizations working on solutions and new tools that empower people to do their part to address the water crisis.
Building Wells: Organizations like Water.org and charity: water are leading the charge in bringing fresh water to communities in the developing world.
Technology for Good: Do you want to measure how much water it took to make your favorite foods? There's an app for that.
Conservation Starts at Home: The average person uses 465 liters of water per day. Find out how much you use and challenge your readers to do that same.
Keeping Rivers Clean: We can all take small steps to help keep pollution out of our rivers and streams, like correctly disposing of household wastes.
Drop the Bottle: Communities around the world are taking steps to reduce water bottle waste by eliminating bottled water.
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What do you think of water and what are you doing to make a difference? I would really appreciate hearing from you.
Hope you enjoyed the videos and facts about why water is worth protecting and how urgent it is that we also get it to millions around the world who don't have access to it for even basic necessities.
Many thanks for Blog Action Day for spearheading bloggers to unite once a year for a cause. Great idea!
Yours for the planet, Duane Burnett
It's Always A Good Day on the Sunshine Coast!
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Good post. I had planned to do one, but things have been a bit hectic lately. - Margy
ReplyDeleteMargy its never too late! You always have such great posts. Hope you enjoyed the watershed video. :D
ReplyDeleteThese are interesting facts about going green with water conservation and raising awareness to the public. Indeed each one of us can take small steps to help keep pollution off our streams, rivers, and other bodies of water. Keeping our rivers clean is a definite way to go.
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