07 Feb 09
1 edit
Ever heard of the water-diamond paradox? Diamonds are incredibly expensive and serve little purpose; water is taken for granted and keeps us alive.
A man requires 13 gallons of water each day to live. In many areas across, the world, people are struggling to obtain this (1 in 6 people). In the United Kingdom, people take in 70 gallons a day. In the United States and Canada, people are using 150 gallons each day. In fact, in most houses, each time you flush the toilet is 5-10 gallons of water. Each time you flush that toilet you are using almost as much water as an Ethiopian struggles to get in 1 day. Your cotton t-shirt required 700 gallons of water just for the cotton. How many cotton T-shirts do you have? How many does your family have?
The UN estimates that be 2025 (15 years from now) 48 nations of 2.8 billion people will face freshwater scarcity.
If you look at pictures that depict the changes in our lakes, ground-water, and climates, it is very scary indeed. At any time, climatologists predict a drought will occur - a very catastropic one that will take 100 years to just realize its POTENTIAL.
What I am asking is that you all, especially Americans, Canadians, and Europeans reduce your wasted water! It is estimated that of the water distributed, 60% is simply WASTED!!! Reduce your shower times! Your laundry! Reduce spraying your lawn!!! Stop wasting water! Stop taking it for granted!!
07 Feb 09
Originally posted by PalynkaPavement is BAD! It blocks rain from soaking into the ground or evaporate to recharge the system.
My pavement needs WATER.
Few people, other than hydrologists, understand our precarious situation, you've got to take it seriously and make efforts to reduce your use and waste of water.
08 Feb 09
Originally posted by RamnedUsing less water in Seattle will not make it easier for Ethiopians to get water. Are you planning on shipping it over there?
Ever heard of the water-diamond paradox? Diamonds are incredibly expensive and serve little purpose; water is taken for granted and keeps us alive.
A man requires 13 gallons of water each day to live. In many areas across, the world, people are struggling to obtain this (1 in 6 people). In the United Kingdom, people take in 70 gallons a day. In the United ...[text shortened]... mes! Your laundry! Reduce spraying your lawn!!! Stop wasting water! Stop taking it for granted!!
09 Feb 09
Originally posted by RamnedLook, I'm a green-leaning individual. I recycle, I compost, I purchase reused
What I am asking is that you all, especially Americans, Canadians, and Europeans reduce your wasted water! It is estimated that of the water distributed, 60% is simply WASTED!!! Reduce your shower times! Your laundry! Reduce spraying your lawn!!! Stop wasting water! Stop taking it for granted!!
paper and so forth. One of the things I'd like to do is ultimately purchase
some solar panels to put on my garage roof in an effort to minimize my use
of non-renewable energy.
And, yes, I know there are water shortages all over the world and I fully expect
it to get worse.
But no one has been able to offer a reasonable explanation how my behavior
-- whether I water my lawn and wash my car daily or never -- has any effect
on the water supplies elsewhere. Can you explain the mechanisms at
work which lead you to believe that my long shower times result in the
lack of access for people halfway across the world?
Nemesio
09 Feb 09
Originally posted by RamnedI come from Livingstone which is right next to the Zambezi River. Any water not pumped out of the river for human use flows down into the sea.
What I am asking is that you all, especially Americans, Canadians, and Europeans reduce your wasted water! It is estimated that of the water distributed, 60% is simply WASTED!!! Reduce your shower times! Your laundry! Reduce spraying your lawn!!! Stop wasting water! Stop taking it for granted!!
Some of what is used by the town ends up back in the river.
About half of what is pumped out of the river is lost in leakage in the system before ever getting to a tap. (for this reason they turn of the water at night).
When someone uses too much water they may be wasting electricity (which also comes from the same water - so no carbon footprint) but they sure aren't depriving some Ethiopian.
It makes more sense to promote better family planning and birth control in Ethiopia than to take shorter showers in Livingstone.
And while were at it, we all take air for granted so lets all start breathing less!
09 Feb 09
Reducing my water usage doesn't get Ethiopians any more water. It will just save money. What were you planning on doing, shipping "excess" fresh water from the US and Europe to Africa? They have enough water, they just need more capital to manage it more efficiently, e.g. through more efficient agricultural methods, desalination plants, etc.
09 Feb 09
6 edits
Originally posted by NemesioThere appears to be a mis-understanding here. Let me clear it up. I know this is a long post, but please hear me out.
But no one has been able to offer a reasonable explanation how my behavior
-- whether I water my lawn and wash my car daily or never -- has any effect
on the water supplies elsewhere. Can you explain the mechanisms at
work which lead you to believe that my long shower times result in the
lack of access for people halfway across the world?
Nemesio
You are all correct. Take long showers and washing your lawn does NOT effect Ethiopians or water-poor countries.
But you must ask where that water comes from? Let's take the United States.
If you live in the east coast, a-lot of your water comes from the Great Lakes.
If you live in the mid-west you almost fully depend on the Ogallala Aquifer (an underground lake). Much of the world uses this water.
Thus, your use of water does NOT result in a lack of access for people half-way across the world significantly. They are in water-poor areas - i.e. there are no vast bodies of freshwater.
Taking long showers and spraying your lawn takes water out of, say, if you are in the Midwest USA, the Ogallala Aquifer. Well (and this is factual), unfortunately, all Americans in that region are using water like you, and there is a 99.6% overdraft of the Ogallala Aquifer. This means that .4% of the lake is being replaced per year.
Thus, spraying your lawns to keep them green and taking long hot showers to feel good is a dangerous waste of supply. Furthermore, not sure I mentioned this earlier, but climatologists predict that we are due for a drought that could last at least 30 years (recall the 1930s dustbowl...this is 10x worse). If we have no water, we cannot survive it! We have a lot of water now, but we are not in a significant drought! When that drought hits, we will not have enough water to take long showers or keep our lawns green!
Mankind has used what took 200 million years to produce in a matter of decades. We have got to reduce our use! It is already getting too late. By 2025 we will be facing issues with water like we are with oil!
Water's not our only problem. We're killing off biodiversity (which provides more than beauty), we're destroying natural cycles that have sustained our survival, we are spreading out pollutants in the air...200 million years of pollutants being spread in the atmosphere in a matter of a century.
Now let me finish this off with a warning...our population has EXPLODED to a few BILLION past our carrying capacity. The carrying capacity is how many humans the globe can sustain. Well, we are not only 2-3 billion people past the carrying capacity, but we are using resources at a rate much more than necessary for our survival. In addition, we are extending our lives with new sources of medicines and technology. Overall then our population is at least probably another 2 billion above carrying capacity, at the least.
It's inevitable. We WILL run out of water and resources, such that 10 billion people cannot survive simultaneously! If you look at the populations of other species, none have been able to live excessively past there carrying capacity, let alone living past it by a margin of a few BILLION. Our population is damning itself. When we're out of water, it will take several decades to replenish so we can survive. 10 billion people cannot survive that long. Our human population will take a crash.
By reducing our use of resources and our rate of growth, we can either delay this or reduce the catastrophe that is to come.
I seriously hope, for the sake of myself, of my children, their children, and for our species...I hope that we can get through what is to come. Our society will have to change. Whether we do it ourselves or a natural disaster forces us to break our lifestyle in desperation, we have got to realize that mankind shares a place with all of the other species on this planet, our only home. If we cannot recognize ourselves as part of nature, rather than society, then we cannot survive.
10 Feb 09
Originally posted by RamnedBut I do not live in the Midwest.
Taking long showers and spraying your lawn takes water out of, say, if you are in the Midwest USA, the Ogallala Aquifer. Well (and this is factual), unfortunately, all Americans in that region are using water like you, and there is a [b]99.6% overdraft of the Ogallala Aquifer. This means that .4% of the lake is being replaced per year.[/b]
If you truly want to make a difference in the environment and truly want to get the message out then you need to get your facts right and don't make blanket negative statements.
There are a lot of people who deny global warming or refuse to talk about conservation or green simply because they have been convinced by people like you that the only way to be green is self punishment. It is simply the wrong way to get people on your side.
There are many many ways to be green which will not only benefit the environment but also benefit the people being green.
If you had started by suggesting that we consider putting bricks in our toilet cistern or buying a toilet which uses less water and explained that I could save some money off my water bill as a result then I would be far more willing to listen.
There is no denying that many cities around the globe are short of fresh water and many of them put policies in place to deal with it. Some only allow watering on certain days or during certain hours (I believe we have that in parts of Cape Town). But it is up to our government to manage the water resources and tell us if we are short and put policies in place to deal with it.
In Livingstone as I said, the raw material is not in short supply.
10 Feb 09
2 edits
Originally posted by Daemon SinUnfortunately it be saltwater -the melt water would flow down into the sea and become part of the seawater.
Ha! We've already thought of that and come up with a solution - global warming.
Once we've finished melting the polar ice caps there will be PLENTY of water for everyone!
WIN!
If you drink saltwater, you will die of thirst.
( I know you were joking 🙂 )