Got water?

When I am thirsty, I grab a bottle of water. When I invite family and friends to my home, the water flows freely. When I shop for groceries, a package of bottled water is usually one of my purchases. I am like millions of other Americans who drink bottled water on a regular basis and have helped to make bottled water big business. More than half of Americans drink bottled water and about a third of the public consumes it on a regular basis. Currently, the bottled water industry makes about 4 billion dollars a year in sales.
But like everything else in life, all ‘good’ things must come to an end. My love affair with bottled water is over. The United Nations General Assembly played an important role in my decision. Access to safe and clean drinking water is a human right, but 890 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease. In the United States, we drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. We consume all this bottled water even though many of us have access to safe tap water. Add to that, Food and Water Watch states that 17 million of barrels of oil are need to produce all the plastic bottles that we use each year, and only about 86% of those bottles will be recycled.
In Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman urges the adoption of an ethic of conservation. In other words, this ethic of conservation would consist of a “deeply ingrained habit of always looking to minimize our impact on the natural world” (Friedman 2008). It’s a great idea and it’s one that I will put into practice in my daily life. Doing so is more than just a trendy way to be green, it’s about taking steps to create a culture of sustainability.
As Americans, we are fortunate that our water supply is not as stressed as those in other parts of the world; however, we cannot continue to take access to clean water for granted. There is a finite amount of water on the planet, and considering that population increase, climate change, and a host of other socio-economic factors will impact our supply, it’s about time we pay more attention to the state of our collective water supply. If you think that Cincinnati is immune to water concerns, read this dispatch from the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center: ijpc-cincinnati.org/news/who-will-control-cincinnatis-water .
And finally, water.org has a few more facts to quench your thirst for knowledge:
● 2.5 billion people don’t have a toilet.
● $25 brings one person clean water for life.
●More people in the world have cell phones than access to a toilet.
● The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any way claims through guns.
For more information, visit water.org and change.org.