recent news on africa and water
i was watching t.v., and there was a program on the water shortage and the crisis in Africa, to paraphrase, many nations in africa suffer from water shortage and unclean water, that (to paraphrase) people spend up to 200 million hours a day looking for water, and that many families, especially children spend many hours walking to wells, or rivers or ponds, often dirty water, which takes away from time spent in education and other activities, however, the positive news is that the situation has improved in africa in the last twenty years from the intervention of the West, and that in twenty to thirty years, they believe the situation will improve dramatically…
( now in this moment is a question of not changing Africans work habits surrounding water- perhaps spending many hours walking to a water source is important,- as this activity of searching for water may be culturally significant, however, clean water, one can suggest is always and universally to each culture a situation which must be available and addressed, as it is foundational) in this .my thoughts in this are that I , and possiblely we,not necessarily take forgranted clean water, rather use it in a type of unconscious way, a relaxed way or casual way ( i am searching for a word, one that you may know from your personal experience with water), which perhaps is different than those who are dealing with in “survivalist” ideology,…..in this i have begun to become more conscious about my water consumption….i spend less time showering…..and will use an alarm clock to time a five minute shower…….and when brushing my teeth and shaving will minimize the running water….in trying to develop a more intimate relations with water……( one idea is that we create a one week water diary to see how we use water….when and how much….and if there are recycle possiblities in the process) also while in a cafe, starbucks actually, there is a bottled water called Ethos, which donates 10 percent of its sale to addressing water crisis’s in the world, and hope to raise in several years 10 million dollars, in this the idea of the ethical consumer is very interesting, …..also a question on my mind is how does dutch society approach water, in a general way, ( including history, which is obvious with dykes and canals, etc, ships, trading, exploration,) yet this may be a question for our respective countries, Japan, Serbia, Holland, Canada, Indonesia, where do our nations stand on water issues…….and the environment and sustainability, first in a general way, and then deeper
May 11th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
about the bottled water company:
nice, that they spend some of their sales to water crises, but isn’t it much more ecological not to drink bottled water at all, but take it from the tap? think of all the energy and resources going into production and shipping of all these bottles.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:33 am
yes……however, in the context of contemporary times, bottled water is a necessity in Modern Nations, in the sense of the unexpected desire for liquid for the body….i recently saw a female talk show and the guest mentioned an interesting fact…..she use to drink 2000 bottles of water per year…..she reduced that to zero almost by buying aluminumn bottles for water…..several…..and then using primarily water from the tap…..this works…..for the office and around the home…….and in some traveling situations where there is plans…….however, sometimes…..in emergencies it does not always work…. i have been in an airport….and there has been no choice to buy liquids….and my choice was bottled water…..due to the security…..they make it impossible for one to carry into the airport ones own water…..a type of economic conspirousy….as sales of food and liquids are highly increased by this……..
profit governs most of the governments and multinationals decisions….and in terms of the multinational….and this is what i found interesting about this eco conscious bottle water company is that 10 percent of a corporations profit is essentialy given to charity….the water crisis…..is actually quite noble in the capitalist paradigm……however it was not as great as VIrgin airlines who i bleive devoted 100 percent of their profit for :safe” plane fuel….some type of bio fuel…now this is a great and honest commitment by a corporation to the environment……i would like the government to embreace this ideology…..as much as possible…..however…there is a danger….and this is extremely important…..as i see more ads..and people talking about the environment…..
as i feel in the media in the last year it has increased 100 fold…..beautiful…..that this desire to the save the earth is so great that …..governments.and multinationals….are exploiting the this desire for profit…….hence this eco friendly bottle water company….is essentially exploiting us for profit……more than saving the earth…that envrionmentalism can be now a manipulation tool….by these organizations……another extreme of this….is technology…..
like the synthesis many types of media into one hand held media….black berries..and cell phones etc……. with internet…and televiosin…..etc…….that one day…in the name of saving trees……the media giant corporations…..in line with a future ….(.probabaly less benevolent government…..i will leave this open to the imagination……perhaps 1984 Orwell style, )….will say eliminate all newpaper print media…..because it saves the trees…..yes this sounds great…..however the loss of print media in public spaces is a direct attack on the free and thinking individual…and the access to print media is a social
imperative…the removeal of print form public spaces is.a disaster for liberation and rights and freedoms of the individual……and a destruction of a culture of “difference” and diversity, into a funnel of a domination scenario and order by techno sscience….and by corporate elites…..and others…….thus……your question of saving water and not using water bottles…..is interesting in this sense as well.. that we are being manipulated by our very environmental beliefs to act in a certain way…also…i have heard that some cities in the states are considering banning bottle water in reference to your point…..and this point you raise, the critique of bottled water, has been in disscussion now for the last year it seems…..and it seems that many people now are tyring to use more tap water…..which i agree…and is great…..however there is one more example for the acceptance of some bottled water………when i was traveling in India…..i really needed bottled water…..to not get sick from contaminated water……and this is important….in many undeveloped…countries…..and poor nations…..either the water has many different and unsafe bacteria, or in csome cases chemicals from Western companies exploiting thier enviornment….or the traveler….me in this case….is not climatized to that water…..
in such a case ….the bottled water saved me…from sickness…..and i drank two liters a day….it was the summer…..intense 40 degree heat…….thus….bottle water can not be eliminated….but reduced….sounds like a cliche environmentalist response……
and to summerize in defense of the corporations……while sitting in a Paris cafe…..its really great with a cafe au lait …to have a bottle of Perrier…….
in this sense…controlled consumption….thought out consumption…and a consumption of
moderation is the immediate possible resolution………