Water: we bathe in it, wash with it, drink it, swim in it, and package it in ways destined to help kill the planet. Most of us even know it takes two hydrogen and one oxygen molecules to create water, but there’s lots more to the stuff that covers the majority of our planet. Read on to get wowed by six things you didn’t know about water.
1. Dating back as far back as 2006, several states have reported water shortages near water-bottling plants across the nation – including Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, and Wisconsin. Any chance the underground water situation has improved over the past four or five years? Not likely.
2. Less than one percent of all the world’s fresh water is available for human use in the form of lakes, underground sources, and reservoirs. The rest is soaked into the soil, too deep underground to reach, or manifests itself in the icecaps of the world’s polar regions.
3. Props to the folks that spend a long time tracking down clothes that are manufactured responsibly, but don’t forget that much of the environmental damage occurs after you’ve bought that gorgeous new dress. Between thirsty washing machines and the half-loads we throw in when we’re pressed for time, we send gallons of wash water down the drain every time we run the spin cycle. Let’s face it, none of us have time to scrub our clothes on a rock over a rain puddle, but do take a few steps to reduce the amount of water you use washing your clothes.
4. It may seem like there’s a new cure for whatever ails you but, in the end, water really is your BFF when it comes to battling everything from puffy eyes and insomnia to hangovers and candy overload.
5. Reports estimate the average person uses around 160 gallons of water per day. Where does it all go? Two-thirds literally gets flushed away, set aside two gallons if you leave the faucet running while you brush your teeth, and another 55 gallons for that 10-minute shower.
6. For a mere 20 bucks, you can join Charity Water in building the infrastructure necessary for clean water in developing nations where people often have to walk miles just to dip drinking sludge from a polluted swamp.
Now that you’re filled with information about water that you didn’t have 10 minutes ago, what are you going to do with your new-found knowledge? Pay attention to the way you use water and figure out where to cut back, even if you just shorten your shower by 60 seconds, or give your plants a drink with the water you just used to wash your lettuce.
Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.
Images: FreeWine, mandiberg, reurinkjan, Shandi-lee, Conor Lawless, jeckert gwapo, Charity Water