Every day billions of people on this planet drink, shower, wash their hands and brush their teeth – all things that are done using water.
It’s not just used as a necessity either. Many of us fish, swim, eat seafood or cook using water.
70% of the earth is covered in water, yet it is quickly becoming one of our most endangered resources. Water itself isn’t going anywhere, but the majority of that 70% is in the ocean, thereby unusable for human use. Ocean water has such a high salt content that it will kill you if you drink it, destroy your yard if used to water it and corrode any devices of convenience (sprinklers, washing machines, dishwashers, shower heads, plumbing, toilets, etc.). What’s left gets wasted in modern, developed countries (like the U.S.) and is scarce in many undeveloped, third world countries. In addition, what freshwater they do have is either contaminated beyond what we would deem safe and most third world countries don’t have water treatment facilities like we do.
Here’s a few statistics that startled me:
- One in every eight people on the planet doesn’t have access to clean water.
- Many foreign relations experts believe the crisis in Darfur stems from water disputes.
- Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease.
- 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming and aquatic life.
Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it? It’s because we’re spoiled and take things for granted. Much like American children being born post-2000 will never understand life prior to iPhone, high speed internet and HDTV, few of us can comprehend not having access to clean water.
Here’s a few more stats that hit closer to home:
- The average U.S. resident drinks 200 bottles of water a year, at a cost of over 17 million barrels of oil (FYI, plastic is made from petroleum).
- The three largest bottled water producers are Coca-Cola (Dasani), PepsiCo (Aquafina) and Nestle. Dasani and Aquafina are both just re-filtered tap water and Nestle is ground/well water (i.e. more tap water). Those three companies then bottle and sell that water for around $1 per bottle (or more), yet most of us have access to the same tap water at our homes for cents. And if you want to argue about filtration quality, buy a Brita or Pur filter. You’re still saving money.
- It takes an estimated 39,090 gallons of water to make a car.
- It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of blue jeans.
- It takes 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.
- It takes 53 gallons of water to make an average sized latte (think of everything that goes into a latte and you’ll understand).
- The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that’s 40 million liters to charge those alone.
Sounds crazy, I know. But there are solutions. One person alone can’t make much difference, but if we all start small, it will add up. For example, I usually leave the faucet running while brushing my teeth. Why? I’m not using that water. So I’m going to stop. Last year, New York City began urging residents to switch to using tap water in reusable bottles and several cities across the U.S. have banned using city funds to purchase bottled water, opting for tap water, reusable bottles and water fountains instead. And I don’t have to tell you littering sucks – you should already know that. Yet 100% of river and lake contamination comes from personal and corporate littering/pollution.
As for third world countries, there are charities such as water.org and charity: water who are building wells as well as supplying fresh, clean water where even the wells are tapped.
For more info on the growing water crisis and to learn how to get involved, visit the Blog Action Day homepage.
