Water is something that many of us, living in British Columbia take for granted. Water is arguably the MOST important resource our planet has. Without it, we would have nothing! Our lives, material resources and other important production processes rely on it. The infinite value of water is something that the majority of society hasn't even started to understand. There are so many innovative ways that have been developed in order for us to more efficiently and sustainably use water - aka ****recycle and save it!****
When Cape Town was in their water crisis of 2018, "DAY 0" was discussed - the day general water supply would be cut off to the public. When news of this broke, a sense of urgency overcame Cape town and water waste was reduced by 50%! I think this is an excellent example of how urgency is a crucial driver for change. My vision would be to live in a world where everyone treated everyday like DAY 0 was around the corner. This would help everyone realize the true value of crucial resources such as water: they are invaluable!
A key intervention to implement water saving practices would be to regulate and incentivize water saving amongst not only individuals, but big corporations. The excessive amount of water needed to make things from food, clothes and cosmetics contributes to society's biggest use of water. Implementing incentives and regulations on water usage for mega corporations would encourage them to make their practices more sustainable - by investing in water saving tactics. #savewater #UnleashValues #thebigW #sustainabillity
Hi Maria,
I completely agree that urgency seems like a key factor in impacting larger scale change in the way people consume water. I wonder if there is a way establish this sense of urgency in Canada as well as other first world countries around the world. As sad as it is I feel as though third world countries and communities that are margionalized already have this sense of urgency as they experience water insecurity every day. It is unfortunate that countries who need this sense of urgency don't have it.
Hi Maria! I really loved reading your post! I think you make some excellent points on how we often aren't mindful when it comes to our water use. It's unfortunately usually when we are forced to see how dependent we are on water that we become appreciative of its presence. I like your vision for the future and hope we can take the right steps to use water in a more sustainable manner!
Urgency is such a weird and funny way that the world responds to crises, like you shouldn't have to be threatened in order to decide that something is important/you should preserve it?? You're totally right in that there should be some sort of incentive to save water because unfortunately I think that's the only way people will listen
I am so interested by this sorta dooms day approach to conservation- is a threatening deadline what people need to make big and purposeful changes?
I totally agree! Day 0 was pushed back and I honestly thought the situation was past repair. Even if you do not have a lot of knowledge around systematic change or conservation policies, you can still turn the table around.
Hi Maria!
Totally agree! I definitely found it shocking that Cape Town was able to cut their water waste by 50% only once they had the urgency. Which goes to show that it is possible to implement changes in our lives to reduce our water usage but we just don't chose to do so. I like your key intervention idea to incentivize water savings at both the individual level and at larger corporations - by having big corporations adopt more water saving strategies it will become easier for individual consumers to follow suit!
This is a great post and I am so glad someone chose to bring light to the "DAY 0" topic. I also found the Cape Town water crisis quite interesting, especially in regards to how the population acted when they presented a real emergency that had implications on there everyday life, not just something that has been briefly spoken about in the news. Its quite unfortunate that is what it takes to get society's attention to make a positive impact on the conservation of our water sources, but hopefully it has provided enough awareness to show that all it takes is little changes in our everyday life to reduce water consumption over 90%.
I agree that taxing corporations would really be beneficial and necessary for large-scale change. The Cape Town case is fascinating. I imagine that that level of conservation may require some sacrifices or changes in our lifestyle that we may not want to do, but the Day 0 sense of urgency is something we desparately need to take this seriously. If not 50%, then there are still things we can do to reduce our consumption without having to make drastic changes (i.e., more of us would be likely to make and maintain changes).
I definitely think that taxes need to be put on big companies who over use water to create these products. I also think we need to add a "water tax" to daily consumers so that we are more conscious of our own actions.
I agree with you. I think that if people are unwilling to act responsibly and sustainably with critical natural resources like clean water, then a sense of urgency to 'grease the gears' might just be what is needed. Great post!