Let’s Talk About Something We Take For Granted: Water

You probably see that glass of water pictured above and think nothing of it. You probably turn on your tap to fill up your own glass at home without wondering where it came from. If you are anything like how I was (and sometimes still am, to be honest), you purchase a bottle of water without thinking about what that means for society at large. Well, Blog Action Day 2010 seeks to change that.

Blog Action Day 2010 and the Global Water Crisis


Blog Action Day is a day dedicated to a particular cause or issue that affects people all over the world. This year’s issue is water, and it is being written about today by bloggers from all over the world – 143 countries to be exact. The goal is to educate and inform as many people as possible about the global water crisis.

Water is one of those resources that is easy to take for granted. I mean, the earth is made up of about 70-75% water. Who would ever think that there could be a global water crisis? But there is. Here are some stats:

• 1 in 8 people lack access to clean water. That’s about 1 billion people across the globe.
  
• Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
  
• Every day 4,000 children younger than five years old die from preventable, water-borne diseases.
  
• The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.
  
• In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water. Time spent walking and resulting diseases keep them from school, work and taking care of their families.
  
• It is believed that water could be a major cause of war in the future. Some scholars believe that the conflict in Darfur is affected by the water crisis.

The Commercialization of Water


Think about this for a second: Is it or is it not ridiculous that we pay for packaged water? On average Americans consume about 200 bottles of water per year. This has enormous impact on our environment due to the petroleum required for production, the harmful carbon emissions, and the amount of waste produced. Then there is the whole ridiculous issue of the privatization of something that is a public resource. Companies such as Nestle enter the severly under-regulated bottled water industry and make billions of dollars by forcing their way into communities and bottling their water. These communities are often left helpless and unable to fight these large corporations, leaving them particularly devastated in situations like droughts when bottling doesn't stop. The reality is that about a third of bottled water actually comes from tap. So when you weigh the benefits against the costs, it just doesn't add up.

The documentary Flow (trailer shown above) was eye opening for me. It highlights the growth of the bottled water industry, how it affects communities across the globe and, most importantly, its effect on the water crisis. If you want to learn more about the issue, I recommend that you check it out.

Making a Difference Today


Like with anything else, change doesn’t come over night. Making an impact on the global water crisis will take time. But it requires a concerted effort by everyone to affect the change we need to see.

While this issue is still pretty new to me, I've started doing a lot of reflecting on my own water habits. For instance, I have always regularly purchased bottled water because of its convenience (grab one, put it in my purse and go). Now that I’m more aware of the issue, I am working to change these habits. I won’t lie and tell you that I absolutely never buy bottled water. But I’m taking baby steps by doing my best to avoid being in situations where I need to buy bottled water.

What other habits can we adopt?

• Take shorter showers: The average person aparently uses over 100 gallons of water per day. You can save up to 25 gallons of water a day by just cutting 5 minutes off your shower time.
• Turn off the tap: Turning off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving can save about 8 gallons a day.
• Sweep instead of hose: Don’t hose down your driveway or sidewalk. Use a broom!
• Landscape wisely: Climate-appropriate plants need significantly less water.
• Slow the flow: Replacing showerheads with low-flow models and putting inexpensive aerators on faucets can cut water use by up to 20 percent.

You can also take a stance and support the cause in other ways:

• Sign the petition on the right side of my blog under "Support Blog Action Day."
• Donate to organizations that are working hard to increase access to water like NICEF and Charity:Water.
• Fundraise either on your own or with the use of tools provided by organizations like Charity:Water.

We can all start somewhere. And while I recognize the urgency of this issue and the need for all of us to eventually move from taking baby steps to making large scale changes, awareness is the first and most important step to affecting the change we want to see.

Photo Source: Live Earth

Statistic Sources: Change.org, Global Water Challenge and Charity:Water

Lighting the Flame: The Black Girl Project

Lighting the Flame is a series dedicated to recognizing the efforts of organizations that work to empower women and girls across the world. These organizations keep families and communities alive by ensuring that the flames of these women and girls are fully lit and prepared to shine as they begin to tap into the power within.

This weekend I attended a screening of a documentary entitled The Black Girl Project, a film that tells the stories of eight young black women living in Brooklyn, NY. Inspired by her prior experiences working with them and her frustration with the extremely limited perspectives of black women represented in the media, Aiesha Turman set out to produce something that would highlight the experiences of these young women.

With little film experience and even less of budget (she emphasized during the discussion that it was “zero” lol), Ms. Turman produced a piece of work that greatly contributes to the conversation about what it means to be a black girl in America. Her choice of documenting the lives of girls in Brooklyn was interesting as it drew attention to the ethnic diversity of the region as well as diversity within the black community, which is overlooked far too often. As a black girl myself, I'm hyper aware of the media’s failure to show the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of black women. We are consistently bombarded with the same portrayals that don’t reflect the vast majority of us. As one girl put it, we’re either the "bougie", successful black woman who forgot where she came from or we’re the ghetto baby-mother on the block. This film seeks to fill that void.

I appreciated how Ms. Turman started the film with some history of black woman as well as statistics on the current situation for our black girls, some of which we have seen far too many times before. She then moved into the most powerful part of the film: the interviews with the young women. The conversations flowed from girl to girl as each of them shared their perspectives on issues ranging from identity to family and from love and relationships to goals and dreams. Moments from the film that still remain vivid to me:

• The Haitian girl discussing her new-found pride in her culture after being teased growing up
• A young woman sharing how she was raped and later tried to commit suicide yet was told by her father that she didn’t really want to die because everyone knows that taking 13 Tylenol won’t kill you
• One girl stating that she began using bleaching cream at around seven years old because she hated her skin
• A young woman being called an insecure slut by her boyfriend and sharing that she can’t love herself unless she’s perfect, which she then stated is not going to happen

These are issues our young black girls are facing yet nobody seems to want to talk about. The Black Girl Project is changing that. I couldn’t agree more with what Jennifer Cooke’s review on the website states :

Initially, I would like to thank Aiesha for taking the time and pouring her effort, love and diligence into this project. I really think that a film like this can help jump start important conversations in our communities. Not only between parents and their daughters, but siblings, extended family and people who work within the community. There is an unspoken resilience that young women of color are expected to have. A theft of the wonders of youth and the beauty of innocence and that has to be resolved. These brave young women gave us insight into how much they had on their shoulders at such a young age. Thankfully they had (a) positive influence(s) which helped them negotiate feelings and challenges. I am certain that many other young women that see this will realize that they are not alone and come forth to seek their own support system and
embrace their successes.

After the film, Ms. Turman had a Q&A session with us. The documentary was an extraordinary undertaking on her part and was filmed over the course of about two and a half years. During that time, each of the young women were either just going off to college or were in the middle of their studies. She proudly announced that the majority of these young women will be graduating in May of 2011.

Not only has The Black Girl Project greatly contributed to a much needed conversation, but it has also given a voice to each of these young women and provided the support they needed for their lights to shine. Furthermore, it was extremely encouraging to hear that these women continue to pay it forward in their own ways now. To me, it doesn’t get much more powerful than that.

For more about the film, visit The Black Girl Project. Aiesha Turman's work on the film led her to start a non-profit called The Black Girl Project dedicated to "helping our young women and girls develop the skills the need to not only survive, but thrive in this new millennium". Check out the website to learn more about and support the organization.

Photo Credit: Black Girl Project's Flickr

You work in Corporate America. How could you possibly change the world?

As I mentioned before, I am taking part in the 31 Days to a Brand New Blog challenge. I joined the challenge late, so I'm catching up with old assignments as I begin writing posts for the site. This post is a combination of Day 4's assignment: Writing a List Post and Day 9's assignment: Write a "How to" Post.

If you are anything like me, this is the question that sometimes pops up like the little devil on your left shoulder in a cartoon. For those of us do-gooders out here making our way through Corporate America, there are times when you feel as though you aren’t truly committed to change simply because you don’t spend the bulk of your work week with the “right” type of organization, whether it be a social venture, non-profit, or government agency.

But the reality is that it's still possible to find fulfillment by focusing your energy outside of your 9-5 (well 9-5ish) job on making an impact in the local - or even the global - community. Depending on the amount of time you have available on evenings and weekends, there are many ways you can make a difference. Here are four that require more effort than writing a check:

Read about the issues you care most about.
Knowledge is power, and the best ally a cause or organization can have is an empowered and educated advocate. Sharing the information you acquire brings more awareness to causes and, ultimately, more support. Don’t underestimate the power in that.

Sign up to volunteer with a local organization.
Some people are often discouraged from looking for volunteer opportunities because of the level of commitment they assume to be involved. Organizations are always looking for support ranging from a few hours at an event to a few days a week for an entire year. You have complete freedom to determine how much time you are able to give. Most importantly, you probably have skills that are much needed somewhere.

With the current state of the economy, volunteers are more important than ever for non-profits that have had to cut or eliminate salaries. A recent study by the Corporation for National and Community Service estimates the value of a volunteer’s time be $20.85 per hour. This value varies depending on the state with DC having the highest average dollar value of $32.74 per hour. That’s a hefty bill for most organizations, especially those whose operations are highly dependent on volunteers.

Spearhead community initiatives for your company.
This is a great way to give back to the community while building your network at your firm and helping your company's brand. Your company may already have a strong presence in the community. If so, that's fantastic. Do some research into which organizations receive the most time and money. If none of those organizations interest you or if your company currently doesn't do much, spearhead something new! Some ideas: gather a group of colleagues to particate in a charity walk, organize a monthly visit to a local homeless shelter to serve breakfast, or raise money for a local organization (possibly getting your company to match whatever you raise).

Join a non-profit board.
There was a YNPNDC twitter chat held in June - moderated by Rosetta Thurman and Allison Jones - discussing the importance of young non-profit professionals joining boards for their own professional development. I believe that it's equally as important for those of us outside the sector, if not more, to get involved with non-profit boards so that we can remain abreast of what is going on and utilize our resources outside of the sector to resolve issues. Last year I had the opportunity to join the board of the Cultural Academy for Excellence, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

Interested but not quite sure how to join one? Check out the recap of the twitter chat I mentioned as well as Rosetta Thurman's post on how to join a non-profit board.

For those of you in the corporate world, how do you keep yourself connected with the community? For those of you in the non-profit world, how else would you like to see individuals engaging with the community?