Did you know that every 21 seconds a child dies from lack of clean water? That water-borne illness is the second cause of childhood death in the world? And, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, "by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in places that experience extreme water scarcity, and 2/3 of the world's population will feel their daily access to water more seriously affected by the water crisis than they do today."
Poor water quality is primarily the result of human activities, but there are things we can do to fight for clean water. Earth Day is this Friday, April 22. Let's take action:
Conserve Electricity
Every kilowatt-hour of traditional electricity takes about 2 gallons of fresh water to make. Conserve electricity: turn off lights when not needed and switch to more energy-efficient bulbs.
Eat Less Meat
It takes up to 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat! Participate in Meatless Monday.
Support Organic Farming
Organic water is simply much better for our water supply. Runoff from conventional farming contains pesticides that pollute our fresh water supplies - which we then ingest! In many places this is the biggest source of water pollution.
Check in to the Foodista Blog this week for more on Earth Day (we're making it Earth Week!)
Photos by: fox_kiyo, Dottie Mae
Comments
May 16, 2011
That is very sad indeed that THAT many children die every 21 seconds from lack of clean water. We as humans need to find a way to get clean water to everyone!