Blog Action Day - Water

Today is Blog Action Day - a day when bloggers around the world to unite in support of one topic.

This year, the subject is all about water.

Now, you know I'm not hugely political, however, when there is a basic human right that isn't available to everyone, then this needs to be shouted about.

That vital resource that we all take for granted, and can't live, literally, without.


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

Here are some facts:

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

Please take action yourself and add your name to the petition; by using the box on the right, and help support the efforts of the UN to bring clean, safe water to millions.

You can find out more at http://blogactionday.change.org/