I've been getting updates from the friendly folks at www.useitwisely.com around water resources and the most recent tweet I found was the "100 Ways to Conserve" list that they compiled most recently.
I must say, I truly appreciate these helpful hints and here are a few that I haven't heard in the past:
#10: For cold drinks keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of
running the tap. This way, every drop goes down you and not the drain.
#17: Collect the water you run to rinse off veggies and water the houseplants with it.
#28: Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl
without flushing, you have a leak. Fixing it can save up to 1,000
gallons a month.
#61: Next time you add or replace a flower or shrub, choose a low water use
plant for year-round landscape color and save up to 550 gallons each
year.
#75: Drop your tissue in the trash instead of the toliet and save water every time.
I think personal sustainbility is KEY to combating issues like water usage, global warming and others- however, i think there needs to be a closely related effort to monitor industry and agriculture when it comes to water usage and how better to have those facets of American life recognize their usage and how to better manage it. To do this without "blue washing" is key and necessary when it comes to the sustainability of water on this planet. These industries use 80% of our fresh water in the United States. How do we work on that?
I've been volunteering for the San Francisco UNICEF Tap Project recently. It's been a really neat experience and we've been working with quite a few volunteers from all over the bay area to get resturants to sign up. Once they do, during world water week, they ask patrons to donate a dollar for clean water projects in the most needy areas around the world.
This week, I got an email from one of the coordinators in Denver how showed me this hilarious video they put together to throw a funny satrical twist to dirty water. Home shopping anyone? Check it out. Lots of interesting ways to tell stories, and they don't all have to be poor sad children...
YouthNoise got the opportunity and privledge to work with an outstanding group of people in coordinating an event last week that YouthNoise was a co-partner with. I traveled to New York before the Baltimore summit on Thursday, Feb. 19th to help host "The Water Front" screening, panel and party which took place at the Brecht Forum, an amazing space for social activism.
We partnered with some amazing organizations- Food and Water Watch, Media that Matters, and of course, Liz Miller and her film "the Water Front" which I highly recommend viewing.The best part that happened was probably the high attendance (the place was packed with 80 people) and the amount of interest of people wanting to take on new actions, etc. Four participants took home a dvd to show and screen on their campuses and in their communities, and others discussed how they wanted to create dialouge around water in the United States. Very successful!
Here are some photos from the event:
Set UP:
Leah Sapian, Media that Matters and Panelist.
Liz Miller, Director of "The Water Front"
Packed house at the Brecht Forum:
Liz Miller, answering questions about the film:
Lauren (YN), Tennillee (E.P.I.C. and DROP participant), Valerie (YN DROP Intern), James (YN Staff)
Leah, Media that Matters, Rachael from Food and Water Watch New York City, Lauren
Liz and Dustin, long time friend from film school!
Overall, this event couldn't have been possible without Food and Water Watch and all the amazing people that helped create it. I was truly inspired by Rachael, Leah and Liz as well as the folks that showed up on a Thursday night to discuss these vitally important issues to our communities, country and world.
We're having an exciting event this THURSDAY, February 19th, 2009 at the Brecht Forum in New York City for a screening, a panel and mini party to announce some winners of the really cool Water Front Remix Challenge that I posted a blog about a couple months ago. We want to see our DROP Participants there as well as our other friends and family of YouthNoise.
Our partners are some amazing organizations! Check them out:
If you want to check out the film and you're NOT in New York City, here is a little info:
The award winning documentary, "The Water Front" is the story of one community fighting against the seemingly inevitable path to water privatization. THE WATER FRONT is not just about water, but touches on the ver essence of our democratic system. The film presents a community in crisis but it also presents the powerful enactment of local participation in finding solutions to the problems of our times. In coordination with Food and Water Watch, the film is on tour around the Great Lakes through March 2009.
If you're attending the IMPACT Conference, the film will be screened there as well!
I got an alert in my email box today from Food and Water Watch saying that Obama may be electing Republican Senator Judd Gregg to the office and postion of Secretary of Commerce. However, according to Food and Water Watch, Mr. Gregg is an advocate of offshore AQUACULTURE. Yet another "hm need to look this up" term. So this is what my friend wikipedia said:
"is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms including molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Unlike fishing, aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, implies the cultivation of aquatic populations under controlled conditions."
Photo of an operation in Chile:
The TAKE ACTION initiative said:
"Senator Gregg has been a
strong supporter of offshore aquaculture - the mass production of fish
in huge floating cages in ocean waters. He consistently expresses support for an experimental facility in New Hampshire and pushes for federal funding for ocean fish farming projects. Tell Obama to reconsider Senator Gregg's candidacy.
The Bush administration was pushing ocean fish farming its entire time in office!"
So WHY do people support it?
1. Economic Viability
2. Job Creation
3. Give fisherman the option for deep water fishing which has been highly regulated
4. Sustainable way to get our fish
Why does Food and Water watch NOT support Mr. Gregg?
1. Threatens Fishing and recreational activities
2. Threatens the marine environment
3. Threatens communities living by the ocean
In an exerpt from thier executive summary:
"The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S.
Department of Commerce, is promoting open ocean aquaculture as a way to
reduce the country’s $9.2 billion seafood trade deficit and ease
pressures on decimated wild marine fish populations. The government has
spent more than $25 million supporting four experimental fish farms, as
well as research into this technology, which involves growing tens of
thousands of fish in cages anchored to the seafloor between three and
200 miles off the U.S. coast. The government wants to open public
waters for the potential construction of thousands of these cages.
Despite this substantial financial and political support, open ocean
aquaculture has not been shown to be environmentally sustainable,
financially viable, or technically possible on a commercial scale. Each
of the four taxpayer-supported experimental operations––in Hawaii, New
Hampshire, and Puerto Rico––continues to be plagued by problems. Cages
and other equipment have broken, fish have died on a large scale, and
sharks have threatened workers. At one aquaculture facility, each pound
of fish sold costs about $3,000 in U.S. taxpayer money to produce."
