Did you know that 1.1 billion people worldwide are estimated to have no access to clean drinking water? That's one in every 6 people on our planet. Many of them are children.
Please watch this very short video from charity: water (charitywater.org) which brings this truth much closer to home:
If you are interested in helping, children's safe drinking water (cdsw.org) has a program which distributes PUR packets to make potentially deadly drinking water drinkable. For as little as $1, you can provide a child with fresh water for 50 days.
Recently, I became aware of one of the more tragic stories regarding water quality and shortages. A few months ago 1,500 farmers in India’s agricultural state of Chhattisgarh committed mass suicide in response to the devastating effects of water shortages on their crop production. You can read more about it at BlueLivingIdeas (click here).
Did you know these facts about water?
1. In some organisms, up to 90 percent of their body weight comes from water.
2. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water.
3. The human brain is composed of 70 percent water.
4. Human lungs are nearly 90 percent water.
5. About 83 percent of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature.
6. Each day humans must replace 2.4 litres of water, some through drinking and the rest taken by the body from the foods eaten.
So you can see just how important clean water is to the survival of all of us. For tips on how to conserve water, visit the "Water Use it Wisely" website (click here) or here for 49 tips from Americanwater.com.
"When you know better
you do better."
~Maya Angelou
you do better."
~Maya Angelou
Love,
MOM
MOM
12 comments:
True. And sad. Potable water is our first commodity; yet,we have not paid attention to this problem. Thanks, Angela, for the power of information you put at our fingertips.
excelelnt post, it's shocking that so many people in the world still don't have safe water to drink...
This is not necessarily always 3rd world. A few years back,in Walkerton Ontario,there was an outbreak of e-coli that took many lives.The officials keeping the water safe, were not! This can happen anywhere, so keep an eye on your local water source and those that take care of it!
I hate to think that there are people that only have unsafe dirty water to drink.
Very good point, Lorac. And very true. May people died in an e-coli outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan a few years ago, too.
Mountaintop removal and coal mining are ruining the water in many states in the US Appalachian Mountains, too. Any kind of mining puts local water sources at risk.
Farming, especially large-scale farming corporations, put our water sources at risk.
Many water sources are taken for granted and polluted out of greed and/or ignorance. It's a long list, but few average people seem to care or want to be informed.
Angela MOM),
This is such a powerful post. Thank you! We appreciate water so much, fresh water to cook with and bathe in, to soothe our souls in through lake beauty. As a family we try to conserve water and educate others in the same way. My daughter has just switched her major in college to environmental sciences. I am going to send her this post. She will enjoy it! Blessings to you.
Sad to think not everyone can enjoy easy access to clean safe water..the infants, nursing mothers, old or young, - and there are so much wastage going on in so many parts of the world in the way we use it daily..
knowledge is power.
What sadness these people have to endure. We support two girls through Christian aid and so wish we could do more. It is so fantastic what your blog is all about here.
Oooh, the Maya Angelou's quote. So simple, so beautiful, so true. I wish I could say so much with so few words. I'm the opposite, I feel. ;)
Love your blogs!
Angela, what a great blog here, totally opens your eyes to so much.
This is a great place to visit and be aware and get information to help.
And one of the effects of climate change that's been anticipated and appears to already be happening is that in general the wetter places will get wetter - and the drier get drier...
I almost mistyped "dire" which also works...
Angela,
Thank you for sharing this important information. Many of the people around the world are losing their God given right to clean water due to privatization...not only is there massive pollution, corporations are buying it up and many, many people around the world can't afford to buy it back. We need to recognize that the water on the planet now is all we will ever have...it is NOT a renewable resource. And it isn't meant to be sold to the highest bidder....we can live without love, but we can't live without water. And as someone else pointed out this is not just a third world issue...Nestles Corp. and Coca Cola, are very busy sucking water from Mother to sell back to us...we have pollution on a massive scale right here in the USA...Many, many people say water will be the cause for many future wars....a scary thought.
hug, hug
This is a great post, and your blog is one of the best I've seen on environmental issues. You are a great writer and I'm sorry you are stopping this project. But I wish you the best in your other ones. Thanks for leaving it up...I think it's very valuable!
Sorry I didn't participate more. Not only I discovered you not too long ago, but in general it's hard for me to do anything with regularity. :0
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