Did you know 1 in 8 people lack access to safe drinking water?? by Gia Machlin, October 15 2010, 1 Comment
It's Blog Action Day and this year's topic is WATER. To get the conversation started, I will share some facts about water (many of which, I must admit, I was unaware of prior to this post) and they are shocking:
* Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
* 890 million people lack access to safe water.
* 2.5 billion people don’t have a toilet.
* $25 brings one person clean water for life.
* More people on earth have cell phones than toilets.
* The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
* On average, women in developing countries walk 3.7 miles a day to collect water.
* In just one day, women around the world spend more than 200 MILLION HOURS collecting water. This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours worked in a week by employees at Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonald’s, IBM, Target, and Kroger.
- Water.org Co-Founders Matt Damon and Gary White
Wow! Really makes you think! So what can we do about this? Well the first thing is to spread the word: Water.org co-founder Matt Damon says "When you make [people] aware of a problem this serious, but then also then make them aware of a solution this practical, I think it’s in peoples’ nature to want to step up and do their part."
What other actions can you take?
Get involved with organizations such as Damon's water.org.
Donate just $25 to provide water for life for one person!
Help educate the our children about this crises - check out these lesson plans for elementary, middle school, and high school students.
Start a fundraiser through mycharity: water.
It's pretty amazing to think how wrapped up we are in our lives and how clueless we can be about how fortunate we really are. I mean, here I am, pretty dedicated to the environment, and yet did I know these facts? NO. Was I thinking about what I could do to help a child get safe drinking water? Uh Uh! But now I am! Thanks to the folks at Blog Action Day for bringing this issue front and center!
I hope this touches you as well. I hope we are all inspired to do what we can do to help Damon and White achieve their vision: the day when everyone in the world can take a safe drink of water.
Comments
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Gia Machlin on January 10 2016 at 09:58PM
Original comments from old site:
Gia
Submitted on 2010/11/01 at 10:43 pm
Thanks for the comments folks. @GreenBuilder – to answer your question – it’s a little complicated, but the short answer is most of the time, depending on your location. Bottled water is less regulated than tap water, and in a 2008 study by the Environmental Working Group, 38 contaminants were found in 10 of the top brands of bottled water. References: 2009 GAO Report http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09610.pdf, EWG 2008 Investigation http://www.ewg.org/reports/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Quality-Investigation
Adrienne Smith
naturalgermfighters.com
Submitted on 2010/11/01 at 2:14 pm
Wow, I had NO idea about the majority of the facts you just shared here. I guess the majority of us have our heads in the sand when it doesn’t really pertain to us. I know for a fact that water is so very good for you which is why I’ve been drinking just that for the past 20 years. I just want to thank you for making us more aware of some of the problems other people have due to the lack of water and I promise to do my part. Thank you for sharing this very interesting and eye opening information.
Green Builder
epoxygreen.com
Submitted on 2010/10/21 at 5:13 am
Thanks for providing these facts! Is tap water is safe to drink?