fusclimate Mailing List: Fwd: 2nd video long but info on how water is used and many excellent ideas on conservation

[Scott Jackson (sjackzen46]

Some information on water on the day after World Water Day.

Scott Jackson
sjackzen46 [at] gmail.com


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wanda Ballentine <wsb70 [at] comcast.net>
Date: Sat, Mar 22, 2014 at 11:42 PM
Subject: 2nd video long but info on how water is used and many excellent
ideas on conservation
To:



http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/its-world-water-day-5-shocking-facts-about-water-scarcity-will-make-you-cry-river.html?mc_cid=8223dcfeae&mc_eid=83a5da071d


*It's World Water Day: 5 shocking facts about water scarcity that will make
you cry a river - 2 videos - 2nd long but info on how water is used and
conservation*

* Derek Markham <http://www.treehugger.com/author/derek-markham/>Science
<http://www.treehugger.com/science/> / Clean Water
<http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/>*March 21, 2014

For most of us, water scarcity and water poverty probably aren't high on
our list of things that we regularly think about or take action on (but if
they are, good on ya), what with all of our attention being pulled every
which way by the news story or Facebook meme or funny video of the day, but
those water issues directly affect hundreds of millions of people every day
of their life.

Most of us probably have no problem when we want or need water, anytime of
day or night, as safe clean water flows right out of our taps with
virtually no effort on our part, and we can use it for for drinking, for
washing, for watering the garden, at a very low cost to us.

But in many parts of the world, getting enough water to drink everyday may
mean walking miles to fetch it, which directly impacts the lives of those
people (especially women and
children<http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/women/>,
who are primarily responsible for water collection in developing
countries), because it not only takes a huge amount of time (estimated 200
million hours each day, globally), but also takes a physical toll, as the
water is often transported on their backs.

To help raise awareness of these very real water issues on World Water
Day<http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/home/en/>2014 (March 22nd),
here are five shocking facts about water scarcity.

*1. Almost 800 million people lack access to clean safe water every
day.*That's more than two and a half times the population of the
United States,
where most of us probably waste more water before noon than those people
use in a month.

*2. Almost 3 ½ million people die every year because of water and
sanitation and hygiene-related causes*, and almost all of them (99%) are in
the developing world. That's like the population of a city the size of Los
Angeles being wiped out each year.

*3. Every 21 seconds, another child dies from a water-related illness*.
Diarrhea, something we don't really consider to be dangerous in the
developed world, is actually incredibly deadly, and is the second leading
global cause of death for kids under
five<http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/children/>
.

*4. More than 1 billion people still practice open defecation every
day.*In fact, more people have a mobile phone than a toilet. Open
defecation is
just what it sounds like, which is squatting wherever you can and pooping
right on the ground, which can not only pollute the immediate area, but can
also contaminate community water supplies. Sanitation and clean
water<http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/sanitation/>go hand in
hand.

*5. The average American, taking a 5 minute shower, uses more water than an
average person in the slums of a developing country does in a whole
day.*And to be honest, it seems like a 5 minute shower is probably on
the short
side for many people, so that's as if we used our entire day's water
ration, just to wash our body.

Water poverty and its related issues affect the health, wealth, education,
and wellbeing of all of those who live with it every day, so supporting
clean water initiatives can make a big difference for many of our fellow
Earthlings. But that doesn't always have to be in the form of a monetary
donation to a water charity or nonprofit (although those are certainly
welcome).

Support for water issues can be as diverse as being an outspoken advocate
and sharing water stories via social media, or educating our children about
the 
issues<http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/mar/17/how-to-teach-world-water-day-lesson-ideas-resources>,
or volunteering for a water advocacy group. If you're a smartphone user,
this water charity initiative dares you to not touch your phone for 10
minutes to fund a day of
water<http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/if-you-can-go-10-minutes-without-touching-your-phone-georgio-armani-will-fund-day-water-child-need.html>,
and this one, asks Instagram users to upload and donate a photo of "your
water day" <http://www.donateaphoto.com/cause/waterorg/> (and tag it with
#waterday) via the Donate A Photo app to get $1 donated to
Water.org<http://water.org/>from Johnson & Johnson.

The theme of this year's World Water Day is Water and
Energy<http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/about-world-water-day/world-water-day-2014-water-and-energy/en/>,
because those two issues are not only closely interlinked, but also
interdependent, and addressing them both is the only way forward. To learn
more about the relationship between those seemingly disparate issues, watch
and share this Water & Energy video playlist: