Wars for water will be more prevalent this century as water resources become scarcer due to the effects of the climate crisis, overuse, waste, and privatisation. These conditions are already causing drought, famine, war, illness, disease, and lack of clean safe water to over a billion people around the world, with that figure estimated to almost double by 2025 if current conditions prevail.
However, there is hope that these conditions won't prevail, as there is always hope... And that hope is in people. People like those at Water Partners International who work tirelessly to see the day when all people on this planet have enough safe potable water to survive and stay healthy. I do not know what I would do without water, and those of us who live in countries like America surely do take this liquid of life for granted.
Therefore, I've decided to post this quiz I found to test your water IQ. Just what do you know about this liquid of life that sustains us all?
How Water Wise Are You?
And as you answer those questions, think of these questions:
What can you personally do to raise awareness of this issue?
What are you willing to do in your own personal life to conserve this most precious of resources?
How much can you afford to give to an organization such as Water Partners International to help bring this life giving resource to those less fortunate?
Did you know that people in rich countries use 10 times more water than those in poor countries?
How often do you wash your car? Fill up your pool? Water your lawn? Is it necessary to do it the number of times you do it? Do you even think of the amount of water you are using when you do these things? Do you drink bottled water? Do you know where it really comes from? Do you know what the corporations involved in bottling it are doing in these poorer countries to exploit the people to make a profit?
This is part of the hope we can all have that working together we can beat this crisis and restore faith in mankind. And this is also why I believe the movie An Inconvenient Truth is so important. The water crisis faced in many countries is a direct result of climate change. People must be made aware of this in order to be empowered to action to find solutions to this problem that will effect the lives of those who come after us much more than our own. I am hoping this movie is the catalyst for that change.
I was then very gratified to read Al Gore referring to the water scarcity problem in a Wall Street Journal article he wrote this past April with David Blood (Generation Investment Management) regarding sustainable investment. For People And Planet.
I had just written to Mr. Gore a couple of weeks prior to that article to express to him my great concern about this issue, so It was good to see him mention this. This is then what we must also do regarding our local, state, and federal governments. It must be the PEOPLE who put the pressure on governments and corporations to let them know that the old policies will no longer suffice for the changing world we live in.
And it can't wait until 2008.
That is why I took the two week pledge to drink only water and pledge the money saved to an organization I believe is doing good work. I also received a mail from Water Partners International to tell me that they had seen my other entries on this topic and thanked me for my work. To them I say, THANK YOU for your work for our world and for people who otherwise do not have a voice.
We can make a difference. The time to start is now.
WATER IS LIFE.
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