Blog Action Day and Change the World Wednesday

I'm combining Change the World Wednesday and Blog Action Day all in one post.  Before I give you my thoughts, I'd like to give you some info on both of those.

Blog Action Day
The topic for Blog Action Day 2010 is WATER.    Taken from their website: 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.

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted.

Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us.

Change the Wold Wednesday

For this week's challenge, please participate in Blog Action Day and post something about water, on your blog, on Friday, October 15th. For more information and to register your blog, please visit the Blog Action Day siteHERE.

Or ... If you prefer not to formally join Blog Action Day, please write a post about water ... water pollution, reducing water usage, why it's an important subject, etc.

Or ... If you'd rather not write a post, please comment here with your water saving ideas.

My thoughts

I personally could probably do a lot better in the water conservation at home.  I don't take the shortest shower, I don't brush my teeth in the shower, I do wash some dishes by hand, I don't use a rain barrel, the list could go on and on.  I admit that at work I fill up my re-usable water with water that we have brought in (at least those plastic bottles are re-used!).  I didn't used to do this but then heard from a couple people about how the tap water in the city isn't the best. I do use tap water at home though.   I could make a list about what I should start doing, but I'm not going to. Those are things I'm aware of and I'll work on.  Instead, the more important topic is water in general, not my use, or waste, of it. 

Don't we all take tap water for granted?  I know I do.  I want something to drink, I get water.  I need to wash my hands after using the bathroom, not a problem.    The thing is, not everyone has access to clean water.  Hard to comprehend isn't it?

In fact, I urge you to read this information on Blog Action Day. It's a blog entry titled Five Facts About Water You Might Not Know.  I think you'll learn something you didn't know. I think you'll be surprised.  Actually, let me just tell you want #1 is.  Ready:  Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.  Pause.  read that again.  Yes, you did read that correctly.  If that doesn't shock you, I don't know what will. 

This post isn't so much what we can do to conserve water, but rather making you realize that something needs to be done.

I would also like to  give a shout out to this company, Charity:Water.  I donated money to them last December because I think their cause is worthwhile.   Their website has a great page on why water is so important.   Money donated to this charity goes towards drilling/building wells and providing fresh water in areas that don't current have access to it.  

In honor of Blog Action day: Water, I'll be donating money to that charity today.  It's the least I can do.  

I urge you to either find a way to conserve water yourself and/or find a charity you believe in that helps provide fresh water to those who need it.