A Price Tag on Life

I guess this is my advocacy week for the Millennium Development Goals, because I wrote a line in my rant from yesterday that struck me as a better title for an entirely separate blog.

It's in the same spirit; but I realized I was trying to urge you all to care about something without really saying anything about what we're caring about.

What I'm hoping you take away from this is that we are putting a price tag on lives. We're saying that they're only worth certain prices and certain treatments. They don't deserve the same salary or healthcare.

They don't deserve clean water to drink or bathe, or enough food to eat, or housing, or clothing.

Not unless they have the money to pay for it.

What the hell kind of thinking is that?

Yeah, it's tough to see those kids on commercials starving halfway across the planet. And it's rough to see homeless people asking you for money or food.

But it's their own fault, right?

I'm pretty sure I can convince you otherwise. It's a pretty standard Catch-22, but I'm hoping you'll realize that when it comes to you paying a little extra for a sweater and someone else getting a real salary, it's worth it.

Today I'm going to tell you about water...

There is almost nothing that will piss off an environmentalist more than bottled water.

Now, it doesn't seem that bad, right? It's just safer than tap water...

WRONG!

First, tap water in the United States- the leader in bottled water consumption- is some of the safest in the world. It's true that there are ridiculous things present in our water: antidepressants, birth control, etc. It's still a better choice than a bottle of that same water coming in a kerosene package.

Water is a natural resource. It may not be renewable, but it's been around this long for a reason- the simple fact that everything and everyone needs water to survive!

And we're charging people for it. Yes, we pay for services here. The treatment and the pumping- and we're fine with that.

But there are places in the world that literally have no water supply to speak of. They get water maybe once a week.

Here are two fantastic documentaries on the water industry:

Flow: For the Love of Water
This is a general study of water company procedures and their effects on local residents and water supplies- both in the U.S. and outside.
Gasland
If you've ever heard of frakking- this is the ideal video to watch for information. Basically they blast tons of water into the ground to release natural gas- ultimately they end up poisoning the local water supplies.

A lot of people think that their aid would be a handout, and thus cause laziness or complacency. It's true, handouts don't really help anything. Some things do need to be earned.

But access to clean, healthy water- the most essential of human necessities- should that really be considered a handout?

No.

Now, there are things we can do, immediately, to affect the water situation. I'm going to tell you about two of my favorite options both because I think they're cool and seriously practical.

1) Donate a LifeStraw (Information!)
These things are awesome. They filter diuretics and a lot of viruses/bacteria. And they don't cost that much. $6.50 buys a kid a year of cleaner water.

2) STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER
Seriously. Stop. It's really not worth it. Here's what I'd love for you to do: give up drinking bottled water for a month, take the money you would normally spend on that, and donate it to Water Wells for Africa.

A statistic in the first documentary I list, FLOW, says that 9 billion U.S. dollars were spent on bottled water in a calendar year, and it would take 3 billion dollars to give every global citizen permanent water supplies.

Americans spend three times the amount of a global water campaign on bottled water...in one year.

And the packaging...more often than not it gets thrown away instead of recycled.

So...that's a little bit about water. :D