Tuesday, March 22, 2011

It's Clear

I take a glass from my cupboard and fill it with fresh, cold water from the dispenser on our fridge. It's that easy - water on demand. I think of my Kenyan sisters for whom it is anything but easy. They spend hours a day hauling unclean water from a river or stream that is shared with wild and grazing animals. Backbreaking work for water that can make them and their families seriously ill.

I look at water differently now. I live in a country that has more fresh water than most and we squander it. With one flush of our low flush toilet we use more water than the average African uses in a day. The UN says that each person needs about 20-50 litres of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning. The shocking reality: only 1 in 6 people on the planet have access to safe freshwater.

 So today on World Water Day, I am renewing my commitment to stop the squander. It's clear. We have to stop the drain. I am going to start with trying as many as these tips as possible.

Happy World Water Day!

Just in case you're interested ...
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3 comments:

  1. Lori annMarch 22, 2011 at 11:18 PM

    lyn, i was over here reading through your posts and you were at mine. i love when that happens.

    i still can't get over that your girl can come home for a weekend, oh how i wish that were true for us!

    and you are so right, travel to developing countries surely does open our eyes. i'm trying to do my part too. great post!

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  2. SabineMarch 23, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    These are really good links and thoughts. I'd like to add this one:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

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  3. Angela March 23, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Lyn, I agree that water is a precious resource and we take it for granted because we've never had to try and appreciate a life without it flowing so generously out of our taps.

    Here in Alberta we squander it (in my opinion) to make oil. Now I know we need oil but now we are also squandering it in questionable practices like fracking for natural gas, which basically contaminates our ground water with gas and other chemicals. It is a heart-breaking practice that goes on without so much as a second-guess by industry and governments. I have to wonder how long before we will realize that the water was more important than the fuel.

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