Tuesday, March 22, 2011

World Water Day

In honour of World Water Day today, let's watch Annie Leonard's Story of Bottled Water.



Next time you feel tempted to buy a bottle of water, think about the oil and energy that goes into making the plastic bottle, the downcycling that occurs once you toss the bottle into your blue bin, the fact that the water itself isn't from some pristine spring but rather a municipal source - which is already clean enough to drink from and much, much cheaper than the bottled version!

Looking for water-saving tips? Here are 100 ways to conserve. Can you add any more ideas to the list?

10 comments:

  1. I never get tired of this video and learn something new each time. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. You're welcome! Annie Leonard does such a good job of explaining complicated issues in a language (and graphics!) that we can easily understand. I hope she does the story of single-use paper coffee cups one day!!!

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  3. Great tips! Some of them were new to me, and all of them made me realize that I should be working a lot harder on the whole water conservation thing. I think transparency could be an issue. Some of the biggest uses of water are outside our immediate awareness: corporations use a ton of it to make, package, and process virtually everything we buy, and animal agriculture always means that water has been first used to grow the plants the animals eat, and then drunk throughout the animal's life. I think it's another case in which there are multiple reasons for water shortages and multiple ways to target them.

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  4. Yes, there are multiple ways to make a difference, and that list really gives us no excuse not to try harder - you're not alone!

    You know what one of the biggest problems is that we're not directly addressing with everyday water saving strategies? Global climate change. When ice caps and glaciers melt, freshwater mixes in with saltwater. Think of how much energy and infrastructure we'd need to turn ocean water into drinking water, if it ever came to that!!

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  5. Grim, but I think the point at which we run out of drinking water is when our population starts coming down. Hobbes thought we would be limited by food, but it's really looking more likely that water will be the real issue. It's bewildering that we're not taking climate change and water issues more seriously.

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  6. My first thought is to agree completely, but then I started thinking about current water shortages, and areas with no safe drinking water. Those are overpopulated parts of the world! So... now I'm a little worried.

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  7. We posted that video too--it's SO good. But thanks for the link to the tips. Some of them were new to me. I think about conserving water every time I turn on the tap, but I know I'm wasteful a lot of the time.

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  8. At least you're thinking about it! We usually take it for granted that when we turn on the tap, clean water will come out endlessly.

    Speaking of which, I wish all public restroom taps were motion sensor controlled so that I don't have to leave the water running while I lather and scrub my hands. In the interest of my own health, I wash my hands fairly often, so this is a pretty big source of water waste for me when I'm out and around town.

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  9. I have the same issue with public restroom taps! But worse, since I normally insist on leaving the taps on until I get get a piece of paper towel to shut them off... which means I'm wasting water while I lather, scrub, AND dry my hands! It's sad when conservation and health issues smack into each other like this!

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  10. Yes, it is, and I totally get that immediate health issues take precedence over conservation. The funny thing is... by wasting, we cause more health issues down the line! I've never quite understood how someone like me - with no children - can care more about future generations than the people - with kids and grandkids - who are in charge of making decisions about switching to efficient appliances or not! This kind of shortsightedness makes me sad.

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