We’ve talked about the gigantic problem of plastic bags and plastics in landfills here at Pushkin’s Planet already.  I don’t want to imply that every use of plastic is bad.  Plastics have played a major role in many industries – e.g. medicine.  They are helping in situations like the earthquake crisis in Haiti.  But there are many situations where we don’t need to use plastic and can make a personal choice not to.  One big example is water sold in plastic bottles at the grocery store.

All you have to do is remember that all of those bottles are made from fossil fuels (oil).  As it was pointed out on “Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap” on the  Kids National Geographic site, just imagine each of those water bottles one-quarter full of oil—that’s how much oil it takes to just make one bottle!  There has been a lot of talk about peak oil recently.  Peak oil just refers to a situation where we can’t produce any more oil no matter what the demand.  So conserving our use of plastic helps us save on the amount of oil we consume which could become very important in the years ahead.

Besides finding out about how your community recycles plastic bottles (do they ask you to separate them from paper and put them with empty glass containers for recycling), you can also try to stop using so many of the water bottles and just get your own personal water bottle to take with you everywhere and refill with regular tap water which is safe.

Let me hear from you about other ways to stop filling up landfills with plastic bottles that aren’t biodegradable.  We’ve got to think about fixing these problems now so that future generations can enjoy our beautiful planet.  We all have to help, even in one little way.

Could we run out of fresh water? 

The other night I was watching 60 Minutes and they had a story about water shortages in California.  The state has been going through several years of drought and it’s beginning to take its toll on farmers there.  It got me wondering how serious the world’s water problems are.  It seems the problem is everywhere.  For example, here are some facts cited by the Jutia Group:

• Today, 2.8 billion people, or 44% of the world’s population, live in areas of high water stress, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. This will rise to almost four billion by 2030 based on present trends. The livelihoods of one in three people on the planet will be threatened by water scarcity within 15 years.
• According to The Economist’s article, it takes about 1,000 liters (264 gallons) of water to produce one kilogram (2.2lbs) of wheat. But it takes as much as 15,000 liters (3,963 gallons) to produce a kilo of beef. The meatier diets of Americans and Europeans requires about 5,000 liters (1,321 gallons) of water a day versus the 2,000 liters (528 gallons) of water needed to sustain the vegetarian diets of Africa and Asia.  The world will need as much as 60% more water just for agriculture for the 2 billion people expected to join the urbanite ranks over the next decade and a half, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The Murray-Darling basin, an area of southeast Australia as large as France and Spain combined, recorded its lowest level of inflows in 117 years during the first three months of 2009. Farmers have been restricted to as little as 16% of their annual water allocation. Authorities warn that water supplies for the two million Australians who live in the basin cannot be guaranteed beyond next year.
• Saudi Arabia – a desert country that is swimming in oil but desperately lacking fresh water – is putting $800 million into a new public company that will invest in overseas agricultural products, the Financial Times reported.  The reason: The Saudi government is discontinuing domestic wheat production to conserve its water resources. The country has been producing about 2.5 million tons of wheat each year since it began its wheat program in the late 1970s.

Yikes! Governments and organizations around the world will have some tough decisions to make in the coming decade to try and reverse these trends. All of this while trying to deal with global warming.

“Flow” Sounds the Alarm on Worldwide Water Shortage 

So what can we, as individuals do?  I found some sites with simple suggestions that we can all follow.

• Water – Use it Wisely – 100 Ways To Conserve - A sample suggestion?  “# 5 – Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.”
• American Water & Energy Savers – Save Water 49 Ways – Here is one of their sample suggestions.  “#3 – Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your septic system.”
• Nature Conservancy – Freshwater Conservation: What You Can Do – Since I’m a little bit lazy sometimes, here is one of my favorites: “#6 – Take the easy way out and hit the car wash. A car wash typically uses about 32 gallons of water per vehicle, but the EPA estimates that washing it yourself can use up   to 500 gallons of water…not to mention loads of your time and energy.” 

All this has made me think a lot harder about not taking fresh water for granted and doing what I can to make sure we don’t run out.