Blog Action Day 2010: Water

(Photo left by Steven Chisholm).

To be honest when first thinking about this topic for Blog Action Day I was a little stumped. Stumped until I started looking more into the issue of water.

It was then it became clear to me that, like most people, I was taking the water I drank on a regular basis for granted.

Another surprising fact leapt out the web pages about water I was viewing….The amount of water available to the human race for consumption is very limited.

And this is why we take the water we drink and use for washing etc for granted:

(Photo left by Greenpeace International)

Pollution causes death and disease and renders water undrinkable. It destroys wildlife and habitation.

The photo is from the recent Hungary toxic sludge disaster in which the sludge not only killed people but did damage to property, the ground soil and local rivers. It reached the Danube and all life in the Marcal river, which feeds the famous Danube river, is said to have been wiped out.

(Photo left by Carl Lacasse)

Almost a billion people on this planet do not have access to clean drinking water. In some nations such as Africa, women may have to walk for miles to obtain any water and even then it may not be drinkable.

In July 2010 the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a Human Right. Those people who are not getting both of those are therefore being denied their human rights.

(Photo by Leone Fabre)

Lack of water, sanitation and hygiene leads to diseases.

Diarrhoea and worm infestations follow as a lack of these basics we take for granted.

For those unfortunate to live in such unhygienic conditions, illness can result in death.

 

 

Bottled Water causes a terrible amount of waste mainly due to the amount of plastic left over after the water has been drunk.

Most plastic water bottles cannot be recycled and end up as litter. I actually recycle plastic bottles, some from bottled water, being a drinker of bottled water myself. No more drinking of bottled water for me.

It’d be easier to drink tap water…and less waste would result…

In many countries water is hard to come by and clean water is even scarcer. Appreciate the water you have by not wasting it! Follow this link for some water saving tips. 

If you are interested in reading more about water including droughts and flooding, you should read the Guardian’s Newspaper Environmental Section which includes stories and information on the subject.