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When you turned on the tap today to get a drink of water, did you think twice about it? I know I usually don't. It's easy to think that water is abundant and everlasting because of the ease in which it flows from our taps. Truth is, only about 1% of our Earth's water is drinkable and almost a billion people on this planet are without access to clean, safe drinking water. Even worse, every week almost 38,000 children under 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions. When I mentioned that fact to my 10-year old he thought I was joking for sure.
Then I told him that in Africa and other developing countries, it's often the children who have to take on the task of getting water for their families. They walk for many miles and long hours to find the nearest water source, carrying water jugs that can weigh as much as 40 pounds when full. Ironically, while we try to think of ways to get our kids biking or walking to school, children in developing countries are walking to get water instead of going to school. Walking for water also puts children at risk for harassment, sexual assault and physical ailments. And we worry about letting our kids walk home from the bus stop!
Sometimes it takes researching a topic to really open my eyes to the enormity of it. When I think about the issue of water, I tend to focus on the little things that a family can do to conserve water in the home -- things like turning off the tap when you brush your teeth, using a rain barrel to capture rain water for your garden, investing in a low-flow toilet or taking a shorter shower. These are all valid and important things to do but it's hard not to feel like it's a (pardon the pun) drop in the bucket next to the humongous task of bringing clean, safe water to all people in the world.
What else can you do to help? Consider making a donation to an organization that funds safe water projects. One that builds wells and works with the native people to develop sanitation solutions that work. Fixing the water problem is an integral part of breaking the cycle of poverty in developing countries. Here are a few worthy nonprofit organizations to choose from:
- Water.org
- The Water Project (specifically their Wells for Schools program)
- Charity: Water
- Unicef
Why am I writing about water today? October 15th is Blog Action Day -- an annual event 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". Change.org, the group leading the event, got it's readers to vote on a topic for this year's event. The issue of clean water was chosen because it "rarely gets the attention it deserves". Please help the effort by tweeting and talking (oh yes - talking in real life still counts!) about it as much as you can. This is much more than a one day effort!
Micaela Preston (aka Mindful Momma)
Blog: www.mindfulmomma.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MindfulMomma
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/p#!/pages/Mindful-Momma/124855990842
Author of Practically Green: Your Guide to EcoFriendly Decision-Making
Photo Credits: Nathan Laurell and Jeff Attaway.
