World Water Day on March 22, 2010

Most, if not all of us have grown in a time where we take a special day to celebrate or observe a day. For example, today is St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish holiday. Do not ask me anything about this though, , my knowledge of Irish history is very basic.

Why do we celebrate a Water day, or an Earth Day and what do we expect to come out of it?

The power of rumination

Whatever the cause, while some of us commit themselves completely to a cause, many of us cannot. However, given that this world is made of six billion people, even if some of us gave pause and spent a few minutes, the power of the consequences are extraordinary.

I wrote on very similar lines, when I mentioned the upcoming Earth Day on March 27, 2010 here:

http://www.itshothere.org/?p=121

In effect, on a single given day, if we all planned to do a few things – one thing, we can still make a big difference. Of course, the hope is, we make one small change, pick up one new habit or do something that will last for ever, or a long enough time to have a positive effect. Yes, it is a little bit like the new year’s resolutions, but take it from someone who manages to work around that, we can do it.

How is water important?

An absurd question, I know. But as you expect, it is time to use what scared me and scared you in return. Do you know that about 75% of the Earth’s surface is composed of water, however, only 5% of it is worthy of consumption? Do you know that about 1.1 billion people across the planet rely on unsafe water? Did you know water resource depletion is one of our main concerns as a species and a planet going forward?

You probably knew some, if not all, or more about this than I do! So, there you are, we all understand water is important!

So, what can we do for water?

While I was trying to ascertain how to give a long winding lecture on what we can all do to conserve water, or think about it, I found this website with over a 100 ideas on what we can do to save water!

http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php

While it would be hard and meaningless to try and observe every one of them, National Geographic challenges all of us to try and observe at least 5 of them. I am going to try five of them. From the website, here’s my five, and then some:

1. “#23 Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.”

2. “#32 Designate one glass for your drinking water each day or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.”

3. “#39 When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.”

4. “#43 Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.”

5. “#54 Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and save 25 gallons a month.”

6. “# 80 Share water conservation tips with friends and neighbors.” (This would be YOU!)

7. “100 Turn off the water while you shave and save up to 300 gallons a month.”

8. “#111 When you are washing your hands, don’t let the water run while you lather.”

Note that I do currently follow many of these ideas, however, it is always good to reinforce one’s ideas and look forward to practicing good habits for many years.

Do you have your own ideas to help conserve water? Do you have a plan? Maybe you have children, or your own home and that can allow you to hit more of these targets than I can. However you respond, I hope we can all join hands and ease the choke hold on water supplies!

The world’s longest queue

Let me explain. The World Water Day campaign precedes a meeting of politicians from across the world in Washington D.C., USA, to discuss water. However, there is a risk that this can devolve into an opportunity to spay each other with hormones of machismo and prevent any credible change from happening. To exhort politicians to act and cause real change, an attempt is being made to set a new Guinness Book record (yes, people still read it or refer to it or get into it, I guess!) on demand for change.

I am joining. Why not join me?

Why a queue?

In many developing countries such as India, water is very, very scarce. Even I have stood in a queue during the brief periods when our formerly very lucky city (very, very lucky if you will) ran out of water, to get water. This is a common phenomenon and a way of life for many in India. Guess who gets to stand in line for the most part? Yes, you guessed it right, women.

So, making small changes that increase water availability can cause social change beyond your imagination!

So, lets form a queue to bring politicians closer to reality. So join here:

Other resources

Introducing – The story of stuff – bottled water My cousin Sriram Sarma forwarded the link to the website...
November 19 – The World Toilet Day As another website cautioned, please do not laugh. Â To some...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

March 18, 2010 Posted in: Causes, Uncategorized, water

2 Responses

Alex Gordon - April 2, 2010

круть…инетересно было прочесть…

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin…..
Kylie Batt - April 16, 2010

МолодчаГа парень!!!!!!!!…

транспортном как Most, if not all of us have grown in a time where we take a special day to celebrate or observe a day. For example, today is St…..