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The problem of scarce clean water

Nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water, which causes a litany of struggles, diseases and even death.

40 Billion Hours: African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink. More Info »

38,000 Children a Week: Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.

Wars Over Water: Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.

A Human Right: In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.

Water over-consumption in industrialized countries:

While the developing world faces a water crisis, those in industrialized countries consume far more than their fair share.

Food Footprint: It takes 24 liters of water to produce one hamburger. That means it would take over 19.9 billion liters of water to make just one hamburger for every person in Europe.

Technology Footprint: The shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that's 40 million liters to charge those alone.

Fashion Footprint: That cotton t-shirt you're wearing right now took 1,514 liters of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 liters.

Bottled Water Footprint: The US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.

Water and the environment:

The disregard for water resources in industrialized countries impacts more than humans – it causes environmental devastation.

Waste Overflow: Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water sources. This not only negatively impacts the environment but also harms the health of surrounding communities.

Polluted Oceans: Death and disease caused by polluted coastal waters costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year.

Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

Water solutions:

The good news is that there are great organizations working on solutions and new tools that empower people to do their part to address the water crisis.

Building Wells: Organizations like Water.org and charity: water are leading the charge in bringing fresh water to communities in the developing world.

Technology for Good: Do you want to measure how much water it took to make your favorite foods? There's an app for that.

Conservation Starts at Home: The average person uses 465 liters of water per day. Find out how much you use and challenge your readers to do that same.

Keeping Rivers Clean: We can all take small steps to help keep pollution out of our rivers and streams, like correctly disposing of household wastes.

Drop the Bottle: Communities around the world are taking steps to reduce water bottle waste by eliminating bottled water. 

Citation:  Copy and paste from e-mail received from Maria & the Blog Action Day team over at change.org

Photo credit:  qwrrty

International Education and Blog Action Day 2010 and Water

IHEC Blog will participate in Blog Action Day 2010 (as I did last year).  As of this post, 3,925 blogs from 129 countries are registered to participate in this global event which takes place tomorrow October 15, 2010 (same date every year).  


The focus of Blog Action Day 2010 is Water.  If you or your organization publishes a blog will you be participating tomorrow?  It would be great for all of the international education related blogs out in the blogosphere to participate and post (or do multiple posts) something tomorrow about Water.


You can learn more about Blog Action Day 2010 at http://blogactionday.change.org/.  We as international educators should also make our voices heard on this issue.  Also, be sure to register your blog on the Blog Action Day 2010 website if you are participating!


Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

International Educational Exchange and Climate Change

This is my second IHEC Blog post today in support of Blog Action Day 2009 (actually my third if you count my introduction post earlier this morning). In this IHEC Blog post I’m highlighting some of the efforts in the field of international education and exchange that bring awareness to climate change as well as the efforts to green the field in the development of more environmentally and socially responsible study abroad programs.

Causes & Social Networks & Listservs

- 350 Study Abroad (http://www.350.org/studyabroad)
- The Green Passport Program (http://greenpassport.ning.com/)
- Sustainabilityabroad -- Sustainability in Study Abroad (http://lists.livingroutes.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabilityabroad)

Standards of Good Practice

- Forum on Education Abroad Sustainability Standards (http://forumea.org/standards-index.cfm)

Institutional Efforts/Programs

-Tulane University’s Carbon Offset Program (http://global.tulane.edu/studyabroad/green.html). Starting in the fall of 2009, Tulane University students studying abroad, as well as foreign students studying at Tulane, will have the option of purchasing carbon offsets for their air travel to and from their study abroad destination. These carbon offsets will take the form of installing energy-saving light bulbs in small towns throughout Louisiana in partnership with the environmental organization Green Light New Orleans (GLNO). A trip will be organized each semester for students who wish to volunteer to personally install light bulbs to offset their air travel to their study abroad destination.

- Connecticut State University System (http://web.ccsu.edu/csuiec/) will be hosting an international education conference (Tomorrow!) entitled “International Perspectives: What Do We Mean by Green”. The conference is designed to provide participants with opportunities to: “Make connections important to raising awareness about global concerns and inter-national issues; Provide opportunities for CSU colleagues to compare curricular strategies among CSU campuses and with the international partners we have in common; and, Learn about promising instructional strategies that help CSU students gain the knowledge and skills required for participation and leadership in a greening economy.

- Middlebury's Sustainable Study Abroad initiatives
1. Sustainable Study Abroad Grant program (www.middlebury.edu/academics/ump/sap/sustainable/grants.htm)
2. Carbon Offset Program (www.middlebury.edu/academics/ump/sap/sustainable/Carbon_Offsets.htm)
3. Green Passport (www.greenpassport.us/)
4. 350.org (www.350.org/studyabroad)
5. Going Green Guide for Directors Abroad (www.middlebury.edu/academics/ump/sap/sustainable/Going_Green_Guide.htm)
6. resources for students on sustainable travel

More info on all of these programs/initiatives can be found here:http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/ump/sap/sustainable/ or by contacting Stacey Thebodo at sthebodo@middlebury.edu

- Clemson University offers a summer program in Trier, Germany, teaching "Sustainable Energy & the Environment" (http://www.clemson.edu/ces/students/global/studyabroad/summer/germany.html). For more info, contact Jessica Pelfrey (pelfrey@clemson.edu) - Program Coordinator, College of Engineering & Science.

- Brandeis University launched a new “Brandeis Forum on Environmental Crisis” in late September with a blogging-type website (http://www.brandeis.edu/environment/index.html). It is not specifically study abroad, but attempts to include student overseas experiences and global perspectives.

Organizational Efforts/Programs

- GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Sustainable Study Abroad initiatives
1. GlobaLinks NewsWire Participating in Blog Action Day (http://globalinksnewswire.com/?p=1258)
2. GlobaLinks Partners With Colorado Carbon Fund, Nation’s First Statewide Carbon Offsetting Program (http://globalinksnewswire.com/?p=351)
3. GlobaLinks Now Official Green Passport Program Sponsor

- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Environmental Justice Exchange Program (http://tinyurl.com/yg3xmdh)
Funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State, the educational and cultural exchange will provide leadership training opportunities to 18 Chinese and American women and men, particularly members of minority groups, who are active in environmental justice efforts. Participants in the program will jointly examine the environmental burdens, including climate change impacts, on minority communities and low-income populations in the U.S. and China and will be mentored in designing projects to advance environmental justice for those communities. Applications available now via the link above. (Thanks to @EducationUSAhk for posting to Twitter about this!)

- The Foundation for International Education (FIE) has a Mission for Environmental Responsibly (http://www.fie.org.uk/fie/home/mission) that informs its decisions and strategy both inside and outside the classroom. FIE has a standing committee that meets regularly to ensure that environmental sustainability is embedded in all aspects of operational delivery and in all departments within the company

- IES Abroad’s Go Green Initiative (https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/About_IES/GoGreenInitiative.html)

- Academic Programs International (API) (http://www.academicintl.com/)
1. API offer several academic and volunteer/experiential options for students who are environmentally minded. All of their programs in Costa Rica have at least one course dedicated to environmental or ecological studies. One program in particular at the International Center for Development Studies focuses on environment and sustainability as its main academic theme. There are a number of volunteer and service opportunities for API students in Costa Rica that work towards improving the environment, such as a sea turtle rescue program, and environmental conservation efforts.
2. API also has instituted a project across all of our sites called API Gives Back. The API Gives Back Project in each site may consist of an ongoing volunteer opportunity or a one-day commitment. The goal of the project is to help API students express their thanks for the welcome they received by the local community. Many of these projects also focus on the environment, such as a recent effort by their students in Cadiz, Spain to restore marshlands in the area (here is a link to some of these photos on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/APIstudyabroad#/album.php?aid=107436&id=31469379342).
3. API's Office Green-Over (talk about serious commitment! – my editorial)
From API:
The inside of our ‘new’ building was completely gutted and rebuilt just for us. It’s all built to code for
today’s standards.
⁂ The new insulation is much more efficient than in older buildings – less energy waste.
⁂ Programmable thermostat - for automated control of the office temperature. No need to waste electricity
while heating or cooling the building at night or during the weekend.
⁂ Motion activated lights - automatically turn off if there is no movement after awhile.
⁂ Window blinds – we can close them when the sun gets too hot to keep the rooms from heating up.
⁂ The ‘new’ cubicles are actually old cubes that were refurbished… we gave the landfill some extra room to breathe!
⁂ Water fountains with fresh, tasty H2O! No more plastic bottles!
⁂ No more plastic cups, plates, knives, forks or spoons. It’s all reusable utensils now.
⁂ When disposable cups are necessary, we now have Eco-Products (check out ecoproducts.com) which are
fully compostable hot cups and were engineered using compostable PLA corn plastic from renewable
resources.
⁂ Individual recycling bins at each desk and a larger one in the kitchen - no excuses for not recycling.
⁂ Don’t forget about our new green technology - the online application and forms system saves lots of
energy, paper, and postage. The new student pens were made from recycled newspaper. We’ll also be
printing fewer catalogs next year to save a ton of paper.
Other initiatives have included printing fewer catalogs and materials (and enhancing their capabilities to do so on demand rather than printing more than what they need and may not use). They also limit the amount of paper materials (brochures) that they send out to general requests, and direct students to their website for online versions and pdfs of their applications, catalogs, etc. They have made a concerted effort to give preference to online applications rather than paper ones, including offering a scholarship as an incentive for applying online. In the near future the vast majority of their forms and communication will be electronic as opposed to paper.

Many thanks to all who e-mailed me and left comments on my announcement that IHEC Blog would participate in Blog Action Day 2009. Very much appreciated!

Please see my earlier Blog Action Day 2009 post entitled “The Human Face of Climate Change” to learn more about what CARE is doing in this area.

If you are aware of other initiatives that should be added to this list please leave a comment about the program/initiative and provide more information and/or a link on where more detailed information can be obtained.

The Human Face of Climate Change

Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people.

Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people – the ones least equipped to deal with its effects – climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and communities.

"Climate change is worsening the plight of those hundreds of millions of men, women and children who already live in extreme poverty – and it threatens to push hundreds of millions more people into similar destitution," says CARE International’s Secretary General Robert Glasser. "A concerted international response to this unprecedented challenge is required if we are to avoid catastrophic human suffering."

CARE is working toward a world where poor people can create opportunity out of crises like climate change. But the current reality is that climate change makes poor people even more vulnerable.

For instance, agricultural production will likely decline in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Less reliable rainfall will likely affect planting seasons, crop growth and livestock health – and lead to increased malnutrition. In other parts of the developing world, flooding will likely further diminish the quality of already-marginal soil and could cause outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

Climate change also is hurling many poor families into “Catch-22” situations. For example, they may select crops that are less sensitive to rainfall variation, but also less profitable. As incomes decline and people are not able to eke out a living, children are forced to leave school, assets are sold off to afford essentials, malnutrition rates increase and large-scale migration ensues. The end result? Deepening poverty for tens of millions of people around the world.

What Must Be Done?

At the international level, negotiations to develop a new treaty to guide global efforts to address climate change will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in just a couple weeks. The United States must help lead those efforts, and forge a strong agreement that caps emissions, stops global warming and responds to the effects already in motion. We must do this for the sake of all of humanity.

What can I do to help?

First, you can make a tax-deductible donation to CARE to help poor families access the tools and education they need to adapt to the effects of climate change, make efficient use of their existing resources and overcome poverty for good.

Second, if you live in the Unites States, you can write your senators and urge them to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a critical step toward U.S. leadership in tackling climate change. U.S. leadership is critical to making the Copenhagen negotiations a success.

Third, you can join the CARE mailing list to be kept up to date on CARE’s activities and other ways you can take action in the days counting down to Copenhagen.

To donate, take action and join our e-mail list, please visit www.care.org/climate

Thanks to CARE for this guest post!

Climate Change - Blog Action Day 2009 is Today!

In a September 29th post I announced that IHEC Blog would be participating in Blog Action Day 2009 and I placed a call to various listservs and networks in the international education community asking for examples and information on what efforts were underway in organizations and programs that focused on climate change. Several people left comments or sent me e-mail messages (plus one I came across on Twitter) and it is these efforts that I pulled together into a post that will go up later today.

Additionally, I have a second Blog Action Day 2009 post scheduled (it will actually be the first post of the day and will go up in an hour or so) about a wonderful organization that you should know about.

As of this post 8,924 Blogs from 148 countries have registered as participating in Blog Action Day 2009 and they are reaching 12,591,007 readers (and these numbers are rapidly increasing). Also, I recommend following Blog Action Day on Twitter (http://twitter.com/blogactionday) to see what else is going on in the blogosphere for Blog Action Day.