Blog Action Day 2010: Water

Today is October 15th and Blog Action Day 2010! Powered by change.org, this year's Blog Action Day will bring together thousands of bloggers from all over the world to help shed more light on water issues around the globe.

Here are some facts that illustrate the severity of the global water problem, and why Blog Action Day 2010 is such an important opportunity to raise awareness about the issue:

* Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.

* More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.

* Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.

* The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

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One of the most negative impacts upon the global state of water is animal agriculture and the consumption of meat and other animal-derived foods. Subsequently, transitioning to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is one of the most critical actions you can take to help shift ongoing degradation of the world's water supply (and the environment as a whole). Here are some important reasons to go vegan or vegetarian for water, for the planet, and for and all of its inhabitants:

* It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States. (Blog Action Day 2010)

* The livestock sector is probably the largest contributor of water pollution, the major sources being animal waste, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for animal feed crops, and sediments from eroded pastures. (EcoHearth)

* The largest amount of water the agriculture sector uses for livestock is to provide them with food. The feed production industry uses huge amounts of water to irrigate the land on which food is grown for all these animals, which have been bred to provide people products like meat, dairy and eggs. It has been estimated that the livestock sector may account for about 45 percent of the global budget of water used in food production (source Zimmer and Renault 2003). (Vegan Peace)

* Plant-based diets only require around one-third of the land and water needed to produce a typical Western diet. Farmed animals consume much more protein, water and calories than they produce, so far greater quantities of crops and water are needed to produce animal ‘products’ to feed humans than are needed to feed people direct on a plant-based diet. With water and land becoming scarcer globally, world hunger increasing and the planet’s population rising, it is much more sustainable to eat plant foods direct than use up precious resources feeding farmed animals. (Vegan Society)

* In most of the developing world, untreated manure enters water used by people for drinking, washing and bathing. Along with the manure flow lots of other undesirables including pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and their breakdown products, not to mention the surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus coming from fertilizers placed on the feed crops. All of this livestock-related influx upsets balance in nature. It can lead to fish kills and algal blooms which can deaden lakes. (Vegetarian Resource Group)

* It takes 5,000 gallons (18,900 Litres)of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons (94.5 Litres).A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons (1134 Litres) of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons(15,120 Litres) of water per day. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year. (useecofriendlyproducts.com)

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. It's not too late to join the efforts of Blog Action Day 2010! By registering your blog, sharing something you've written or come across about water, embedding an action widget, signing the petition, fundraising for clean water and spreading the word, you're helping shed light on an often over-looked, yet incredibly important issue.

Be a part of this amazing day of blog activism!

Ommmmmm

An extraordinary finding in my blueberry bush- the symbol for enlightenment or "Om", which signifies the One-ness of all creation and the essence of all the universe. Om (or "Aum") is the sacred sound to which everything that *is* vibrates. I have the tattoo on my foot, inspired from my yoga and Buddhist studies. This mysterious and inspiring leaf message was left by an enlightened little foliage-munching caterpillar. heehee I am amazed every time I see it!

I've left this majestical, mysterious leaf growing for weeks now, wanting to prolong the wonder of it. I think it's time I pick and press it before it disappears! :)

A Glorious Sunny Day!

It's a glorious, blissful day, warm with a tinge of fall crispness, a sweet breeze, bright and happy sun, and a brilliant blue sky. Though I do adore Autumn, this year I'm having a tough time letting go of summer days (the cooler ones). Just a few days ago we were seeing the end of a string of grey, cold, damp days that really affected my mood for the worse. I'm not ready for a season of that yet!

Anyway, this morning there are lots of good things to talk about. I just came inside from studying a beautiful Woodpecker traversing the giant trees in my yard for a mid-day snack, breathing in wonderfully woodsy air (I love living near the park and so many trees), soaking up some sun, and watching my kitty having an adventure in the yard. AND, I got package in the mail!


Sophie!

I love packages! I recently ordered an amazing handcrafted bracelet from my EtsyVeg pal Debbie of For the Animals Sanctuary! Debbie makes incredible vegan jewelry with passionate messages about compassion, and 100% of the profits from her Etsy shop go to running her wonderful non-profit animal sanctuary! I love my bracelet, which reads "ahimsa", or "non-violence" in Sanskrit, a way of living that involves passionate avoidance of injury to any living being through thought, spirit, intention, word, or action. I am very familiar with the concept from my yoga and Buddhism studies, and hold it close to my heart. The bracelet is sooo pretty, wonderfully made, and I love the chain and adorable heart clasp. I feel happy just having it on! Thanks so much, Debbie! Check out Debbie's shop to see her love-inspired work. :)



My beautiful bracelet! I love it! :D

Another good thing about the warmth and sun sticking around longer this year is that we still have plenty of lovely blossoms adorning our porch and yard. As I walked around today, I also visited our garden and the last of the tomatoes still growing.




A Clematis bud- the vine is still growing and blossoming.

Our garden was the source of much joy throughout the summer as we tended and weeded and tried to balance the nutrients in our soil with fertilizer and compost. The yield, however, was somewhat of a disappointment, as you know if you've been following my garden updates. Our lettuce and spinach were a bust. We got some tasty greenbeans and a few handfuls of oddly-shaped cucumbers. lol Lots of tomatoes, though pretty puny (and really yummy). Finally, within the past few weeks, we tried again to dig up our carrots and... we had some! They were ittybitty (we're chalking it up mostly to not thinning enough and packed soil), but they were there, and were so sweet and flavorful. The next step is to ready the garden for the winter.


The last one standing- our tomatoes! We had intended to plant a fall crop of lettuce and spinach, but got a bit too lazy for it.


Our teeny weeny carrot harvest, all pretty and multi-colored! It's a start- next year we're going for big!

Window Lockets- New in My Shop!

New Etsy shop listings- awesome window lockets (I love playing with these) holding tiny art collages! Each little collage has a different theme, and images created from vintage and antique materials like glass jewels from the 1940s; a page from a 1920s calendar; an old botanical journal; discarded encyclopedias, children's and art books; rare little copper stampings, fabrics from vintage sample books; handmade paper; bits of chain, jewelry, and millinery; and natural materials like dried leaves, flowers and twigs! I've been having a ball with the whole process, especially hunting for old materials in thrift stores, at flea markets, and online vintage shops.

I shared pics of a couple of these a while back. Two of those are now available in my shop, plus more- hope you like the new ones, as well! :)


"Autumn Woodland" (This one is in an autumn-themed creative contest on the EtsyVeg blog- please go vote for it!)



"Heart Song"



"Madame X"