Guest Author - Colleen O´Malley Weber

The international observance of World Water Day (WWD) is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. WWD is being observed every March 22 throughout the world. This year’s theme is sanitation as the UN and various countries and organizations are working to resolve the water crisis which is killing almost 2 million children each year.

- More than one billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water
- Water-related diseases are the leading cause of death in the world, taking the lives of 6,000 people a day.
- In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each year due to a lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation
- Every 15 seconds a child dies from a preventable, water-related disease
- 40 billion hours are lost annually to hauling water, a chore primarily undertaken by women and girls.

Although these statistics are powerful, my intention is not to focus so much on the tragedy, but to bring to awareness positive proactive steps we can take in honour of World Water Day and one of our most precious natural resources: water.

What you can do in honour of World Water Day?

Millions of people are participating in WWD through various events such as walks, talks, workshops, hiking, and other events designed to bring awareness about water.

School-aged children are participating in poster contests and various organizations have designed curriculum for WWD. You can download ideas and content from the TeacherPlanet.com web site. Please note: for those of you homeschooling/unschooling or parents looking for some experiential activities, there are some fantastic ideas such as Runoff Races, Mapping Your Watershed, and Dye Tracing Groundwater. A U.S. based poster contest is found here.

Some groups are having movie festivals for kids and adults. If you aren’t able to attend one of these festivals, perhaps have family movie night and choose from one of many fantastic award winning movies related to water. Here is a web site that provides an overview of the documentaries and movies about water. Trailers are available or links to the entire movie in some cases.

One local university in Guelph, Ontario, is asking people to wear blue on WWD to honour and promote water awareness.

If you are unable to participate live in any event, or there aren’t any in your area, you can sign up for the Virtual Walk for Water. This means that your name will be posted on a water jug that is carried for you in a walking event.

Other events can be found in the related links section below. These allow you to search by location.

Another idea that I really liked was to donate to a great cause such as Play Pumps International. They provide schools and communities throughout Africa with an innovative, uniquely sustainable, free supply of clean drinking water.

And, at the very least, conserve our most precious resource.

How can we conserve?
First of all, take a look at common tasks and how much water is used:

Brushing teeth: 3 gallons
Dishes--washing by hand: 10-20 gallons
Dishes--with dishwasher: 25 gallons per load
Washing hands: 5 gallons
Bath: 30-40 gallons
Shower: 30-60 gallons [6-10 gallons per minute]
Clothes washing: 30-32 gallons per load
Flushing a regular toilet: 5 gallons per flush
Flushing a water-saving toilet: 1.6 gallons per flush
Outdoor use through a yard hose [3/4"]: 300 gallons per hour

Tips for conserving water:

-By turning off your water while brushing your teeth you can save up to 8 gallons of water a day per family
-Catch rainwater in barrels for use in your gardens
-Plant native vegetation that requires little water
-Use mulch to keep roots moist and save water
-Wait to do laundry until you have enough to do a full load instead of partial loads
-Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge so you don't have to run the tap to get a cold drink
-Scrape rather than rinse dishes if loading them in the dishwasher
-Soak veggies first in water, then do a quick rinse to clean
-Fill up a 2-liter bottle (or 3-liter, if it fits) with water or sand and put it in your toilet’s water tank. Each toilet flush can use about 3 gallons of water, but by using the bottle method you can cut that down by a little less than a gallon
-Dispose of toxins, drugs, solvents, paints, and other chemically-based liquids properly. If you are not sure how to do that, check here, or contact me for more ideas.
-Believe in the power of one; meaning, realize you can make a difference. Conserve water, spread the word around, and focus on what we can do to help our planet and natural resources

If you have any other ideas, please email me, or post them to the Forum Discussion Boards. And, speaking of, if you would like to join us on the Discussion Boards, we have been actively discussing water filtration, toxins in the water, and other related topics. See the Forum link below.

Happy World Water Day and thanks for cutting back on your water use.

“We didn't inherit this planet from our ancestors; we borrowed it from our children”. Lakota Native Proverb