Clean, safe drinking water is something that many of us take for granted, but for far too many people around the world and even here in North America, it’s a frighteningly scarce resource. Over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and thousands of children in the developing world die each day from water and sanitation-related diseases including diarrhea, cholera and typhoid. That’s why governments, NGOs, and people of faith here in North America and around the globe are stepping up and taking action to ensure that all people have access to clean water.
Our friends at the National Council of Churches are working to raise awareness and promote clean water technologies worldwide through their “WASH for Lent” campaign. As the Lenten season encourages Christians to examine their own lives and give up unnecessary expenses and consumption habits, the NCC is calling on their members to think about what others lack, and how we all can help. The WASH (WAter, Sanitation, Hygiene) campaign has resources and information about the global clean water crisis to enable prayer, study, and action. And our own young people in NFTY will pick up on this conversation through their recently-adopted 2010-2011 Action Theme, focused on consumption choices. The resources we use at home affect what is available for our brothers and sisters around the world, even when it comes to something as seemingly abundant as water.
Our government is working to clean up the water supply at home too: the Environmental Protection Agency is making clean water a priority issue this year, starting with its five-step plan to clean up the Great Lakes, which hold an astonishing 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced last week that her agency would get to work on a five-year project to clean up pollution and protect critical wildlife habitat in and around the Lakes. Since almost one in ten Americans rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, and thousands of jobs in fishing and tourism depend on Lakes, investing just over $2B in cleaning up the Lakes seems well worth it.
While we may hope for a day when all of us have access to clean, safe water, many of us in the U.S. and Canada still cannot trust the water that comes out of our taps. However, we also know that bottled water has big costs for our pocketbooks and our environment. To help us all make better water choices, the Environmental Working Group has come up with four simple steps to safe drinking water. Follow their guide to see how safe your water is, and find alternatives to disposable plastic bottles.
Sharing the world’s water supplies with a constantly growing global population is no easy task, but we can certainly do better than allowing millions to wonder every day where their next drink of water will come from. Whether we choose to skip bottled water, donate to organizations that fund global clean water development projects, or advocate clean water legislation at home, we can all take steps to ensure that clean water is a resource that we can all enjoy.