Environment!

If you're an environmentalist, this week has a couple of big days - today is World Water Day, and tomorrow, Earth Hour.

I think most people will support World Water Day and what it represents.  When you look at the fact that 5,000 children die every day from dirty drinking water, and 3.4 million people die every year...and meanwhile we have the technology for water filtration systems, but for some reason, it's not reaching everyone in the world.  I find that unacceptable.  We're so blessed here in Canada because we have fresh water anytime we want, at our fingertips.  It's so much so that we waste water - we dump it out if there's a speck in it or if it's too warm, we let it run while we're brushing our teeth, we take excessively long showers or several showers a day...  It actually drives me crazy when people laugh at someone for being a conservationist.  For example, when I turn off the tap for someone who's just let it run, they think I'm crazy, but who's the crazy one?  Put a dying child in front of us as we're letting the water run and the humour is gone real fast.  Then comes the argument, "Fine, mail that cup of water to a third world country."  Sorry to be so blunt, but what a stupid argument.  It's about the principle of it all - it's not that one specific cup, it's the bigger picture!

Same deal with Earth Hour.  Lots of people pooh-pooh it, saying it doesn't make a difference.  But it's not about the one hour, it's about what it represents - a change in lifestyle to be more conservative with our energy.  There is so much unnecessary pollution in all forms, and we need to do our part to help reduce it and save the world we live in.  That sounds so 'new-agey', but think about it, all those activities you love to do outside - canoeing, kayaking, hiking, camping, admiring a beautiful nature spot - the more we pollute, consume, and waste, the more we ruin all that stuff.  But just like World Water Day, there's an argument here - this time it's "look at the governments and big corporations and how much they're polluting!  How will it make a difference if I conserve?"  Valid argument in that, yes, corporations are terrible polluters.  But horrible argument in that everyone makes a difference.  If 1,000 people say, "I won't make a difference, so I'm not going to do anything", then nothing happens.  If those same 1,000 people say, "I can make a difference", then something big happens.  But it all starts with one.  And who knows, maybe we'll start to inspire the governments and corporations.  It's a vicious cycle right now - we're waiting for them to get better, they're waiting for us to get better, and in the meantime we're all getting worse.

For both World Water Day and Earth Hour, it's starts with one.