Water; The Next War?

"Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

 When I was a kid, I would get what my father called my "rain face". I would sit by our big bay window in the summer months and stare out as our court became a whirpool of swirling water. I was perfectly content to sit there for hours, just watching the droplets ping up from puddles, only to be swallowed again.

And my Dad never understood why.

"Why don't you play downstairs, or watch TV?" he'd ask me.

"I don't feel like it," I'd always respond.

So one day, he said, "Why don't you go outside?"

And I replied, "Because it's raining."

"Go outside anyway," he told me, with a smile.

"I can do that?" I asked, my mind still stuck on the strict rules of childhood.

"I'll give you five bucks if you do," he said.

I ran out the door in a split second, in only shorts and a t-shirt, barefoot. And I ran around the court, feet splashing up puddles behind me, my hair sticking to my face. I ran, and ran, and ran, until I couldn't anymore and collapsed laughing onto the grass. I can't remember many times in my life that I've been happier than I was at that moment; it's still so clear in my mind.

I've always been attracted to water. I'm not one to believe in Zodiacs or earth signs, but it's pretty clear to me that water and I have a strong relationship; it calms me, it soothes me, it fascinates me.

And so it pains me to know that we're running out of it; and fast.

I've been following water issues since I became interested in the environment, and I feel that I will continue to study it for the rest of my life.

So, I present to you an edited version of an essay I wrote in Gr. 12 about water issues, policy, and social justice. You may find it eye-opening and intriguing; I know my research had me captivated for weeks.

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Dictionary.com defines the term ‘finite’ as “subject to limitations or conditions, as of space, time, circumstances, or the laws of nature: man's finite existence on earth” (dictionary.com). Just as man’s existence on this planet is under the constraints of a time limit, so are the earth’s goods. Our Earth is a miracle.  Astrologists suggest that for our world to have been created with the ability to sustain life the way it does is nearly impossible. Yet, we live. The Earth lives. The reason for the Earth’s sustenance is water. Water fuels us; helps us to travel, cook, clean, and swim in. A world without water would be nothing. The Earth would be a barren desert incapable of supporting any living thing, such as Mars.

Water is a finite substance. We never have any more or any less water then what we started with when the Earth was formed about 4.55 billion years ago. Basically, yes, you are drinking recycled water that the dinosaurs drank. Water is important in everyday life. You yourself are about 70% water. You need it to live. You could go without food for 2 to 3 weeks. You cannot go without water for even 3 days. Our planet’s population of humans is increasing at an alarming rate. The more people we have, the less water available for all of us. And only about 1% of all the Earth’s abundance of water is drinkable. 

The other 99% is either salinated in salt water, up in the atmosphere, or underground in aquifers that we cannot reach. As of now, over one sixth of the Earth’s people go without access to safe drinking water every day. This number will only increase as populations, especially those in Third World countries, continue to grow. “Ten years from now, India will have an extra 250 million people and Pakistan’s population will almost double, to 210 million…the world will house an additional 26 billion people – a 57 percent increase over today’s level of 6.1 billion” (Barlow & Clarke 6).

Water is a growing industry. In times of recession, it is important to have a dependable income in our economy, but the rising of the water privatization sector is proving to be dangerous. There are three things that people will always need; graves, houses, and water. If you’ll excuse the pun, the World Bank has ‘tapped in’ to this knowledge, and are investing much of their money into subsidizing water corporations. They understand that water is a $400 billion dollar industry, and is closely following oil and electricity. They know that once the other two resources run out, there will be one left. These corporations are claiming rights to water all over the world and are taxing municipalities and companies to use it. But who can own water? Water has never belonged to anyone. It is a public right that all people have in common. Maude Barlow, author of Blue Gold and Blue Covenant, stated that “water is a right, not a commodity” (FLOW).

 The World Bank endorses a group known as the World Water Council, which deals with water issues worldwide. However, the two vice presidents of the WWC have worked for Suez and Vivendi, water corporation giants.  This corrupt system of money-making does not end there. The World Bank and its subsidiaries cannot be sued; they have legal immunity. They can go bankrupt, but as long as people are paying money for anything, the water corporations will always be floated back up to the top. In interview on the documentary, FLOW, Jim Schultz stated; “The World Bank knows how to spend a billion dollars in one place. They don’t know how to do is spend a thousand dollars in a million places…and yet in many places we don’t need a million dollar answer, we need a thousand dollar answer!” (FLOW). The World Bank’s solution to the current global crisis is money. Not humanity.

It is unfair that companies with no rights to water in any country can sell it back to the people who live there and depend on it. The three biggest water corporations of today are the United Kingdom’s Thames Water, France and EU’s Vivendi (which has now expanded to include Veolia), and South America’s Suez.  These three companies are responsible for the extortionate prices of water, especially in developing countries, where they know people must pay for water in order to survive. Thus, their market is geared towards such places as South America, Asia, and Africa. The Big Three are all listed in the top 100 wealthiest companies of the world. They prey upon the weak and vulnerable of society in order to keep them afloat during harsh economic times. They are privatizing water. Even worse, they are privatizing water that isn’t theirs, and causing the painful deaths of those who are in the most need of water but who cannot afford it. Instead of selling the poor’s water to them, they should be providing safe water alternatives.

In Varda Bustyn’s fictional novel, Water Inc., a ‘water cartel’ of sorts attempts to use Quebec’s civil unrest with the rest of Canada in order to build a pipeline for water from Canada’s North down into the United States. Although this did not really happen, it is certainly plausible that other countries will plot to steal water from others. “Over  215 major rivers and 300 groundwater basins and aquifers are shared by two or more countries, creating tensions over ownership and use of the precious waters they contain” (Barlow & Clarke). Canada and the US share 5 of the world’s largest lakes. The US’ populations by far surpasses Canada’s. Who is to say that in desperate times our neighbors to the South won’t turn on us?  

And to make matters worse, the Great Lakes’ water levels have dropped to their lowest in about 100 years. Above the border, in Canada’s many lakes, rivers, streams, and glaciers lies 9% of the Earth’s total fresh water. Keep in mind that the other 91% is elsewhere, but very little of this is readily accessible to humans. Wars may be fought over water. Burstyn theorizes that the next World War will be over water. Canada must set a course of action in place to protect our water. Already, agreements have been made with other countries over the selling rights of our water. So far, attempts have not been in Canada’s best interests. “Massive water diversions from Canada do not make economic or environmental sense, according to water experts. Far better and cheaper is to improve water efficiency and eliminate waste. The United States and Canada lead the world in water consumption and are extraordinarily wasteful, Pentland says” (Leahy). Much to our dismay, this is true. North Americans are the worst for wasteful water consumption. Just one of our toilet flushes – the low water-use ones—is equal to the amount of water one person in Mozambique uses per day. The distribution of water is uneven, and disputes will arise. Things have to change. 

The third issue with the water crisis is the increase in use of plastic water bottles. These are ‘disposable’ containers made of a thin plastic that often contains harmful chemicals such as BPA. About one fifth of all Americans will only drink bottled water. 1.5 million tones of plastic from these types of bottles has been dumped into waterways and landfills. But is it worth it? The answer is up to you. “The FDA has less than one person regulating bottled water” (Penn & Teller). Bottled water does not currently have any regulations in North America. This means that any sort of heavy metals, chemicals, or pesticides from nearby industrial areas, farmland, or mines could be in the water you’re drinking! Municipalities treat their tap water and have better regulations than just about any bottled water company you could find.  The prices being charged for this falsely advertized water are extortionate. In fact, Nestle bottling company has seventy-four brands of water on the market alone. They all have different prices. Chances are that almost all of these water ‘brands’ aren’t  regulated. In fact, an individual company in Massachusets is selling water labeled as ‘glacial water’, when in fact, it is really from a well in an industrial factory parking lot.

 

By polluting, diverting, stealing, and wasting water, we are preventing others from having their most basic rights; the right to live and the right to water. It is important that we realize that we are affecting others and our planet in each small action we do. According to the Principle of the Common Good, “the common good includes the social conditions that permit people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity.” There are three essential elements of the common good: respect for the person, the social well-being and development of the group, and thirdly, peace and security. (Pennock 14). In order for us as global citizens to fulfill our call to contribute to the common good, we must change. We must respect others by not polluting their land. We must look after the social and economical aspects of water-sharing throughout the world. And we must also make sure that treaties are signed and followed so that no conflicts arise over this already terrifying crisis. 

The United Nations stated that the US alone spent $90 billion dollars on bottled water alone last year. The UN also estimates that for all humans to have access to safe and clean drinking water, it would cost only $3 billion dollars. If Americans did not buy a third of the water they are buying now, all people on earth could have their basic needs met!  Humans can potentially provide water to everyone across the globe. It is just getting everyone on board that is the issue. There are solutions to this problem. It starts with you. Donate to causes such as Development and Peace, Planet Blue Run, and Me to We.  Sign government petitions to make trade agreements over Canada’s water sales. Buy local products, and make sure you know where you products are coming from and how they’re getting to you. Boycott companies like Coke and Nestle, for buying from them is only fueling their fire. Be an ecoconsumer.

 

People do not need to suffer for our ignorance. We can change things before they get too bad. Maude Barlow, author of two books on the water crisis, paraphrased an old saying on the documentary FLOW; “Never doubt that a small group of commited individuals can change the world.” Imagine what we could do if we were all commited!

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Works Cited

Barlow, Maude. “Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.” Toronto:  McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007.

Barlow, Maude and Tony Clarke. “Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.” Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2002.

Burstyn, Varda. “Water Inc.” London: Verso, 2005.

“Finite.” Dictionary.com. 20 May 2009.

Hewett, Jonathan.  “Water in the Bible.” LearntheBible.com.  20 May 2009. .

Leahy, Stephen. “Canada: Losing Water Through NAFTA.” Globalresearch.ca. 23 September 2007. .

Pennock, Michael. “Catholic Social Teaching: Learning and Living Justice.” Notre Dame; Ave Maria Press, Inc., 2000.

Purdue OWL. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Online Writing Lab at Purdue. 10 May 2008. Purdue University Writing Lab. 25 May 2009 .

Salina, Irena. “Flow: For Love of Water.” 10 December 2008. Documentary.

Stassen, Chris. “The Age of the Earth.” Talkorigins.com.  10 September, 2005. Frequently asked Questions – Age of Earth. 20 May 2009. .

All I've Got's This Sunny Afternoon

"Sometimes I d get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."
--Ansel Adams 

Hello, all!


Don't mind my fiddlings with layout, it'll all be fixed soon...

Just thought I'd let you know that I finally got that SLR I've been dreaming of for a few years now. I spend an extremely pleasant day with a friend learning the ins and outs of my latest gadget, and here are the fruits of my labour (isn't that an awkward saying?).

Enjoy!

 That's what I call "blue"!

Love those clouds...

And that's my "intense photography moment" look.

So, there you have it. Some of my fiddlings. Anyone need an amateur photographer?  Seriously...

(Oh, again, please ask before using any of these; might use them later for contests and such)

- C

Proper Words in Proper Places

"The proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style."-- Jonathan Swift  

I've been thinking, as I do, about words.

Writing is such a funny thing. It has so many dimensions; you can write a sentence that no one has ever uttered before, without much of a thought. You can create anything with words -- pictures, melodies, feelings.


But there are so many to choose from, and so many ways to place them; which makes them so fun. If you haven't noticed, I have an addiction to quotes. Jonathan Swift said it well "proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style". We like quotes because of their style, because they've been placed in such an order that we find them intriguing and thought provoking.

All the best quotes are the simplest ones -- small words in the perfect order.

Words are like threads that we pick out and weave until we make something tangible.

I like writing because it takes my thoughts and turns them out into neat, compact little threads that I can see. And once I can see them, I can weave them into a Big Picture that I can look back at and understand. But that's just me writing for me. Of course, this blog is me writing for me, and for you. My short stories and other pieces I've worked on are for other people.

I'm a fairly creative person. I like making art, I like appreciating it, I like knowing other people appreciate my own efforts.

But what I love is knowing that for a few moments, however small, my words are slipping into your mind like little silver ribbons of thought. Honestly, what could be more amazing? The true essence of art is that extra dimension of communication, where you, the reader -- or the listener or observer -- slip out of your own thoughts for a moment and let yourself fall completely into the world of someone else.

How beautiful!

Here's what's been niggling at me lately:

What gives me the right to do that? What is giving me the right to fill your mind up with my own thoughts? What makes me worth your time, what makes me give my own time to try?

I don't quite know. I suppose you do. When I read someone else's work, I like to forget myself for a few moments and be somewhere else. I guess, then, when I'm writing it's my job to create a world for you to get lost in, a world you haven't experienced before.

Either way, I like knowing that all these tiny letters on this page can make a reader feel something, that all these miniscule punctuation marks and spaces mean something; maybe not something important, but something you appreciate.

It's flattering!

I guess though, in the end, even if no one reads this, I'm at least enjoying writing for myself.

I can only hope you enjoy it too.

Places

"There are places and moments in which one is so completely alone that one sees the world entire." --
Jules Renard 

 Oh dear, it's been awhile, hasn't it?

Sorry I haven't been updating; there are certain places and environments I think that I'm more productive in than others. And at the moment, I'm not in a particularly good place for blogging.

However, I have been working out.

It's funny, how certain places can just have an effect on you; how you will suddenly find yourself craving to run, or to clean, or to write, or to play music. Or maybe a certain place just makes you want to lie on the couch and sleep.

I've always wondered how a place gets it's "feel".

When a house starts feeling like a home.

When any place, really, feels like home.

I think that's the real thrill in traveling. When you go to a new place, you immediately seek out the feeling it initially gives you. You wonder what you're capable of in this new place, what it will inspire and drive you to do. But the real rush of it all is not knowing if it will be a good feeling or not; the simple fact that we're unsure, yet we're confident we can make the best of it.

But what about the world? can't the world have a feeling? It's so big, it's so complex -- it seems almost incomprehensible to reduce our planet to a simple word to describe how it feels.

Maybe thinking of the whole world is like traveling...

You never know what it's going to feel like from day to day; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad; and it inspires and drives different people to do different things.

The world is a whole web of environments and places that make people react differently. Home to one is not home to another; evil to one may be good to another, and vice versa.

So I think anything, really, regarding places and the general environment, comes down to this;

Subjectivity.

Your view of the environment is subjective to how you feel about it.

But places change, and our feelings towards them change, too. Sometimes your childhood home feels more like a cramped little box. Sometimes a new and inspiring place can feel lonely.

But the simple unknowns can still excite us; not knowing how we'll feel.

So next time you go somewhere, think about how it feels to you. Try to think about the world and the environments in it every day.

Maybe your opinions might change.

Maybe they won't.

But you will certainly gain a better understanding of what's in front of you.

It's Not Easy Being Green

"The difference between animals and humans is that animals change themselves for the environment, but humans change the environment for themselves." -- Ayn Rand

In light of the recent BP oil spill, I've been thinking of a question I've pondered for a few years now.

What does it mean to be "green"?

The word, that once was simply used to describe the colour of an apple, a leaf, a shirt, is now so convoluted and loosely defined that any use in advertising and even use of the colour itself can be misleading. It's not only an adjective but now a verb. You can be green, you can live green, you can green your space, you can green just about anything. You can buy green products and green cars, you can have a green lifestyle, a green footprint.

It's in my belief that the simple use of this term has lead the masses to believe that environmentalism is simply a passing trend. Green is the new black, right? I actually saw that saying printed on a canvas shopping bag, labelled as a "green product".

I'll digress for a moment to talk about the confusion between environmentalism and the "green trend."

I have been interested in the environment for as long as I can remember. I was always outside playing, camping with family and friends, enjoying fresh air and lakes. It wasn't until I took an Outdoor Education class in that I really became in touch with environmental issues.

Immediately, I was taken aback, as most people are, as the severity and absolute enormity of our problems. A slow global destruction isn't exactly a small issue. And yet, some people don't even have even the tiniest grasp of what's really going on in the world.

After just four years of studying the environment and being immersed in issue after issue concerning our world I still forget that simple fact; some people still have no idea about what today's environmental issues really are.

And I still ask myself, how is this possible?

How can people not know that all these extreme weather events are related to climate change? How can they not know that global warming is occuring, that we're running out of oil, that we're losing unpredicted amounts of animal and plant life that we can never get back?

These are global problems, yes, but there are many more that can be seen from your front door.

Does no one wonder why there are more and more houses being built (population growth)? Where our garbage goes (waste management)? Where our food, water, and materials come from (natural resource management)? Why so many loved ones are dying of cancers and respiratory illnesses (environmental health issues)?

I tell people that I study Environmental Science and I get a strange look about eighty percent of the time.

Here are a few replies I've gotten;

"Why? Couldn't you make more money being a lawyer or something?"

"But you're so smart! Why wouldn't you be a doctor?"

"Oh, that's nice. Have fun picking daisies while the world goes by."

"I guess there'll be jobs once we're all gone and you have to clean up our mess."

I think these answers really reflect most people's views of the environment and society and that particular interaction. There are four fundamental principles going on here; the world revolves around money, no one has or will have the solutions, studying the environment doesn't matter, and it's a last ditch attempt at cleaning up once everything is over and done with.

Environmental issues, to most people, don't directly affect them and are for "the other people" to figure out and solve. This is essentially the basis of the BP oil spill problem in the Gulf of Mexico. Everyone is laying blame on BP, saying it's their fault for billions of dollars lost, thousands of organisms killed, the deaths of humans. But is it not our fault, too? If we didn't life in such a gas-dependent society and an oil-driven world BP woulnd't have been in such a rush to drill, and possibly wouldn't have drilled at all. BP drills oil so you and I can get to work on time; so isn't that spill partly on you and I? How is it fair that we, once again, lay the blame on "them"?

Here's some news for everyone;

We are "them".

As both a global and local subject, environmentalism needs to start at an individual level.

And that's where this green trend has started.

Someone had the brilliant idea of marketing environmental change to the individual, using the term "green". And yes, it has worked; people are driving hybrids and using less plastic and biking to work. There is a huge demand for "green" products. But will it last? Will people understand why they're going "green" and keep it that way?

I honestly don't believe that the average understand why bringing a mug to work or going to the library or composting will help the environment. I think they just know it's "green" and it looks good if you do it, because everyone else is.

And I forget this, sometimes, too. I sometimes think people generally care about environmental issues. But upon further questioning of a person with a stainless steel waterbottle, they'll tell you "it looks cool" or "it doesn't have bad stuff in it". When asking a person who drives a hybrid, it's because "it costs less and keeps the air fresher". When asking a person with a "keeping it green" shirt if it was made from organic cotton, they'll shrug and tell you "I got it from Wal-Mart".

I think that as an environmental student it's my responsibility to let people know what's going on, and why they're doing the things they're doing, and what repercussions they have.

I'm all for environmental products being used widespead, don't get me wrong. It's great! I just feel that people should have a better grasp of why they're needed.

There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between environmental academics and the rest of the world; the politicians, the citizens, the corporations.

Everyone knows that something needs to be done; but no one outside of academia seems to know why or how.

Green products were originally about helping the average person understand and accept and have responsibilty for their own actions. But somewhere along the way, people picked it up as a trend instead and have no clue why they're doing what they're doing.

To me, being "green" isn't simply following a trend without knowledge of what we're doing. Truly being green is being an environmentally responsible person; knowing your impact and it's repercussions, having the ability to think on a local and global level, being well-informed and being able to make decisions based on that.

So, from now on, I'm going to help out with that. Hopefully, I can start posting some shorter blogs about environmental issues and products, and what they mean.

So stick around. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this long-awaited post somewhat enlightening. To be honest, I'm afraid I'm in the same situation I mentioned before -- I hope I'm not in my ivory tower expecting everyone to understand everything and assuming I do. I sincerely hope that all of us can gain a better understanding of the biggest problem we face.

Keep up the good work -- and make sure you know why you're doing it!

- C