World Water Day! (we all need our H2O)

Last week’s Walk 4 Water culminated with the UN’s World Water Day yesterday, a yearly event marked on the 22nd March to remind us of how much we need and need to look after sources of that special wet set of molecules, H2O.

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In 2015, the theme for World Water Day is ‘Water and Sustainable Development‘. It’s about how water links to all areas we need to consider to create the future we want.

This issue is also the theme of the annual UN World Water Development Report which is launched on World Water Day.  Ban Ki-moon (the UN Secretary-General)’s Message on World Water Day 22 March 2015 may be read here:
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And while it may be stating the obvious, we shouldn’t forget that water is important to our:

  • Health – clean hands and prevention of disease anyone?
  • Urban lifestyle – we need to move lots of clean water, as well as wastewater, to live comfortably in our cities (and for hipsters to drink their espressos)
  • Natural environment – rivers, beaches, forests, grassland, the atmosphere…………water is circulated through our bodies and through these inter-connected natural systems (the global water cycle)….it’s all connected so we need to look after it!
  • Industry – every manufactured product requires water! (and where would we be without our smart phones, selfie sticks and nespresso machines??)
  • Energy – water and energy are inseparable friends. Water is required to generate energy. Energy is required to deliver water.
  • Food – to produce two steaks you need 15,000 L of water and producing 1 kg of rice requires 3,500 L of water. The current growth rates of agricultural demands on the world’s freshwater resources are unsustainable, and we need to think about improving efficiencies in water use and perhaps our diets.
  • EQUALITY – Every day women spend 200 million hours carrying water. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job (and tax-generating for the government!), caring for family or attending school This needs to change.

The Essential Wanderers can proudly say that they more than doubled their goal of raising $500 for WaterAid’s yearly fundraiser Walk4Water last week and raised a total of $1,026! Thank you to all our kind and generous sponsors in supporting us in raising funding and awareness for those who do not have access to clean water and adequate sanitation. In addition, it is also in our best interests to be aware of how much water we use and how our water resources are affected by the choices we make.

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