Water Insecurity: What you should know & How you can help.

This post is actually the author's note from a mini poetry novel I wrote about water scarcity and pollution. Click here to read it. I thought it would fit in well here.

Clean water runs through our rivers and streams. Clean water comes out of our faucets. But does it really? More than 2,000,000 people in the U.S. alone don’t have access to clean or safe water. That’s 2,000,000 more than there should be. Some even have very limited access to water at all. In many places across the U.S., such as the Navajo Nation, Flint (Michigan), and drought-stricken areas like California, residents don’t have safe water or have limited access to it. This isn’t a new issue, nor an impending one. In many places it's been going on for decades, getting worse as time goes on and we aren’t doing anything to help them. Although water insecurity has many causes, the largest ones are climate change, pollution, and growing irresponsible consumption habits.

Water is life. Some people don’t even have access to this essential resource while many take it for granted. Water is a vital resource that everything on earth needs to survive— there is a reason we are not moving to space until we can find a life-supporting planet, a planet with water. Literally all life on earth wouldn’t be possible without water. Do a google search, better yet an Ecosia search (a search engine that plants trees with their profits) for “Basic things necessary for life” and I guarantee that you will find water as one of them. As mentioned above, the biggest contributors to water insecurity are climate change, pollution, and growing irresponsible consumption habits.

● As the earth warms due to greenhouse gasses produced from burning fossil fuels among other things, water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs dry up leaving little to no water left for people, plants, and animals to use. At the same time, ice from polar ice caps are melting leading to an influx in ocean water levels causing floods and hurricanes to torment coastal cities around the world. In addition, now that previously bright white icebergs that could reflect heat back into space are replaced with dark, heat-absorbing water, a vicious circle begins.

● Next, there is pollution. Water is a universal solvent, so almost anything that gets dumped in it— trash, chemicals, sewage, heavy metals, etc— will get dissolved in it and contaminate our supply. Even if something isn’t dumped in the water, it will quite often make it there eventually— whether through storm drains, runoff, or wind— it’ll find its way there and pollute it.

● Last but not least, we have our growing irresponsible consumption habits. Every item you acquire has a carbon, water, waste, and resource footprint attached to it. This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if we didn’t over-consume and we consumed responsibly. The apple that you ate for lunch’s footprint doesn’t really matter. But the footprint of the second apple that went to waste because it was buy-one-get-one-free and you bought two even though you only needed one, that’s a problem. The “cute” three-dollar shirt that you bought online because everyone else had one and you needed one too, but it ripped after being washed twice, now that’s a problem. Now, I’m not asking you to stop buying anything or not treat yourself at all, I’m just asking you to be more conscious of what you do purchase. Only buy things that you really need or have really wanted for a long time, don’t buy the spur-of-the-moment items that you think you need because everybody else has one or they were on sale. Water is an essential resource. Just because it’s not a problem for you yet, doesn’t mean you can overuse and misuse a resource everyone must share.

You may ask me: “Why are you researching water?” “YOU have enough anyway” “There are whole oceans full of it” “No one HERE is lacking water”. There are many reasons why I decided to bring this topic to light. First of all, it’s a topic concerning sustainability, which I’ve always been interested in. Second, this is an issue concerning equality, which I have strong opinions about. It’s really messed up that Native Americans, Blacks, and Latinos are more likely to not have running water than whites. Third, if we continue to mess up our world then NO ONE will have water AT ALL. Also, there are lots of things YOU can do to help. Finally, more people than you think have limited to no access to clean water. It’s not just people in “poor”, “third-world” countries. It could be the people in the next town over, a neighboring state, or you yourself may even have experienced drought and water insecurity. I’ve always been interested in preserving our environment and helping others, so when I came across an article that mentioned people in the Navajo nation who didn’t have water (click HERE to read it), I knew this was the topic for me. Just because it affects the poorest people first and worst doesn’t mean it is not/never will be an issue for the more wealthy. The issues of water scarcity, water pollution, and climate change are more than just my, your, or their problem. It’s a problem concerning ALL of us and we must take action.

Large issues like water scarcity and climate change may make you feel utterly powerless or maybe even at fault. But you can take action. Every small thing helps. Don’t worry about what happened in the past, but help us form a better future. Water scarcity is an issue concerning everyone. There are many things you can do to help.

● First, be conscious of the water usage you can see. Take shorter showers— every minute less saves 2.1 gallons of water. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth— this almost insignificant seeming act saves a lot of water. Only run full dishwashers and washing machines— they are going to use the same amount of water whether they are full or practically empty. Alternatively, you can set your washing machine to a small load if it has that capability. Washing your clothes less often (obviously don’t be gross, wash them if they get stained, smell, or after just a couple uses) also helps you save water. It even helps your clothes wear out slower, that way you don’t have to get new clothes as often.

● Second, remember about water footprints that are invisible to you. The trees that were cut down to make your toilet paper and paper towels used up a lot of water to grow, just to be cut down and made into single-use cleaning paper. Instead of normal paper towels, you can use recycled paper towels or reusable cloths. And instead of normal toilet paper, you could use recycled toilet paper or a bidet (it may seem weird but many people love them). Also, meat and animal products have a large water footprint attached to them too. If you aren’t ready to go vegan or vegetarian, you can at least try to reduce your consumption of these foods. Meatless Mondays rock.

● Third, cut your carbon emissions and reduce global warming. You’ve probably heard this before but walk, bike, or take public transit if you can instead of driving everywhere. This comes with other perks too. Biking and walking also are forms of exercising. And public transit allows you to relax while commuting since you’re not the one driving and therefore don’t have to watch the road. As mentioned above, paper products and meat/animal products have large water footprints. But did you know they have large carbon footprints too? You can follow the ways mentioned above to be more eco-conscious about consuming them.

● Finally, be a conscious consumer in all areas of your life. Fight the urges to get something just because it’s on sale or is very popular. Try to only buy things you need or have really wanted for a long time. Buy second-hand when possible. Pre-owned items have already been made and used and are just waiting for you to give them a second life. You can find second-hand items at thrift stores or garage sales near you. Or online at websites like Thredup, Poshmark, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist.

I really hope you take the issue of water conservation with you as you go about your daily life. If we don’t take action now, we may never be able to get our planet back. For more ways to be more eco-friendly visit my blog, http://www.penguinhat06.wixsite.com/greenlivingwithmargo (you're already here, lol). You can also watch youtube channels with eco-friendly focuses (my favorites are Shelbizleee, Levi Hildebrand, and Our Changing Climate) For more information check out California’s EPA website (I find it’s more accurate and up to date than the general EPA). Please remember #ThereIsNoPlanetB.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and learned something about water scarcity and pollution. Please subscribe so that you get notified whenever I publish a new post. You can leave a comment down below if you have any questions about water insecurity, pollution, and conservation, or other eco-friendly topics or have any suggestions for what I should post next. If you feel uncomfortable leaving a public comment but would still like to ask me something or suggest a post idea, you can email me at me.greenlivingwithmargo@gmail.com Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you shared this blog with your friends. Each additional person that this blog reaches is another step in the right direction towards a more sustainable future.

— Margo Ellis