Today is Blog Action Day where thousands of bloggers in over 130 countries will be hijacking as much of the web space as they can to write about and draw attention to water issues around the world. In standard Green Thing form, we’d thought we’d give you a little round up of three simple things you can do to do your part.
1. Conserve water
There are so many ways and places that you can conserve water. When you take a shower, why not take a quick one, and let yourself be serenaded by our delightful Short Sharp Showercast. You could also try out Stop the Water While Using Me when you brush your teeth.
Right now, Kimberly Clark are giving away free Smart Flush bags with all purchases of toilet roll in the US to help people save on water.
You could even join the Brazilian peeing in the shower campaign to save on flushes (seriously).
2. Boycott the bottle
At Green Thing, we’re pretty passionate about tap water. So much so that we invented a week specifically for gushing about its goodness. Bottled water creates masses of waste that takes over 400 years to decompose, some bottled water contains more bacteria than tap water and a lot is actually comes from municipal supplies. And that’s only scratching the surface of all of the issues.
Turn your attention to the tap. There are plenty of ingenious ideas and cleverly designed carriers of tap.
3. Get your hands a little dirty a volunteer with water projects.
Most people have by now heard about that giant patch of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean, and that’s just a one (big) part of the polluted water problem. Waterways in all areas end up polluted. While it would be just so easy if people stopped littering, that’s a bit unrealistic. So in the meantime, get involved in a local cleanup. Thames21, a London based waterways charity organises cleanup days around London’s waterways. Project Clean Water gets people together to clean up creeks, rivers and beaches.
As thousands are coming together today to raise awareness, think about the small things that you can do to help. Learn more about global water issues. Join in the conversation.
Katherine Hui is currently the Social site editor at Green Thing, a web-based public service in London that inspires people to lead greener lives through creative content.
Before this, she worked as the Development Manager at Social Innovation Camp, an organization that encourages people to use web and mobile-based technology to mobilise social change. She oversaw 300 ideas submission and helped build 20 prototypes – five of which have gone on to get further funding or investment.
Katherine’s came over to the UK form Canada in 2007 for an MSc program at the London School of Economics. Before arriving in London, she managed a small environmental start-up in Vancouver called the Canadian Climate Change Alliance.
Katherine is football mad. She is a loyal supporter of Arsenal FC, plays for Islington Borough Ladies FC and coaches for Gunners in Islington in her spare time. Her second favourite hobby is kite surfing and she can sometimes be found chasing the wind.
