With severe droughts in Puerto Rico and California, damaging floods in Myanmar, and the ongoing global energy-water crisis, we are living on a planet that is under increasing water stress.
There are roughly 1.1 billion people worldwide lacking access to water, with about a billion more finding a clean water source only once a month. This is incredibly problematic for societal development. It impedes sanitation efforts, discourages economic growth, and impacts educational attainment. With this in mind, it is vital that world leaders call for proper water management, as it is a prerequisite for development.
World Water Week begins Sunday, August 23rd in Stockholm with the theme “Water for Development.” This year the conference will focus on the role water plays in achieving the UN’s newly adopted Global Goals.
In anticipation of “World Water Week,” The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) initiated a campaign where they collected over 150 water conservation ideas from around the world to get people thinking creatively about water. Below are just a few of the most popular submissions that I found particularly interesting. Throughout the week, you can go onto SIWI’s website to vote on which idea you think is best.
1. Going Vegan
On average, a vegan (a person who doesn’t eat meat or dairy) indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet. By choosing to eat less meat we can significantly reduce the amount of water consumed, while improving our eating habits. Everyone wins!
2. The Waterless Toilet
The waterless toilet is an effective tool for developing countries because it provides sanitation with little infrastructure, particularly in regions prone to droughts. For additional cool points, it offers a way to eliminate pollution in freshwater sources.
3. Sari as a Water Purifier
Dr. Rita Colwell of the University of Maryland made a connection between water and the use of sari cloth as water filters. When folded over four times, the fabric creates a mesh filter with pores large enough to trap bacteria. This is a simple, yet inexpensive technique to clean water!
4. Desalination
Much of the world’s water is salty— as much as 97%. Through the desalination process, salt can be removed making water from the sea drinkable. By encouraging desalination as a resource for water scarce regions, we can greatly improve the quality of water.
Although these are creative recommendations, there is one more thing you can do that is not on this list. With the adoption of the Global Goals this September we urge you to encourage leaders to include a hygiene indicator in Goal #6 as a way to measure the impact of hygiene and handwashing efforts. In order to achieve tangible outcomes, we MUST be able to measure our impact!
Source: https://www.globalcitizen.org/
Dear User/Visitor! Please, answer on our questions: tick off one of the positions – your answer will make us able to improve our site and make it more interesting and useful!
Loading ... Loading ...