Don’t Take A Shower, Today Is Blog Action Day 2010!

Ok, so maybe neglecting to shower isn’t the best way to make an impact.  However, I do think it makes the point that we live in a country where we can decide when we can take a shower or drink water.  This is not the case in many places around the world which is sad and disturbing. While we should all consider using less water in general due to shortages across the globe, we should consider doing more to help the cause.  Here are some statistics to make it real.

Quick hitting facts

• Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
• 890 million people lack access to safe water.
• 2.5 billion people don’t have a toilet.
• $25 brings one person clean water for life.
• Over 200 million hours of labor each day are consumed each day to collect water.
• The majority of the world’s illness is caused by fecal matter.
• More people on earth have cell phones than toilets.

More in-depth facts

• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
• On average, women in developing coutnries walk 3.7 miles a day to collect water.
• When rain falls from the sky it’s free. To move it where families need it costs money or time.
• We know how to bring people clean water and improved sanitation. We’re not waiting for a magic cure. And the solutions are simple and cost-effective. On average, every $1 US dollar invested in water & sanitation provides an economic return of $3-34 US dollars.
• In just one day, women around the world spend more than 200 MILLION HOURS collecting water. This lost productivity is greater than the combined number of hours worked in a week by employees at Wal*Mart, United Parcel Service, McDonald’s, IBM, Target, and Kroger.

I’ve recently taken interest in charity:water mostly because they claim to use 100% of public funds donated to directly fund water projects.  If that is true, and I haven’t heard otherwise, then it is a fantastic organization.  Candidly, I don’t understand how they keep the lights on but I would assume they have deep pocketed private and institutional investors which is why they can use 100% of PUBLIC funds towards the projects.  In any case, I think it’s a great charity and one that everyone should consider when making that next charitable donation.  In fact, now is the perfect time to shed some weight from your purses or wallets or money clips or bed mattresses or … ok, I’ll stop.  You get the point.  Now is the time to donate so you can claim on this years taxes.  I hope everyone will consider the effect that water has on our society, the environment and every living organism.

This post was in conjunction with Blog Action Day 2010 which is dedicating today, October 15, to the water shortage that plagues the world.  What did you do today?