Water

Water is an essential element of life, yet more than 20% of our world’s population is robbed of this basic necessity. The situation is tragic: 1-billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water; another 2.4-billion consume water that has been improperly sanitized; and there are more than 5-million deaths each year from water-related diseases.

One child dies every eight seconds as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. At any moment, almost half the population in a developing country is suffering from a disease linked to lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Women and children are most affected, because they walk some 200 million hours every day for water which often prevents them from earning a living or going to school.

While no single person or organization can resolve a global issue of this magnitude, we believe bringing our collective good-will together in social action can make a positive difference. Members of civic society, brands, not-for-profit organizations, and local governments have to unite.

So what can you and your kids do? Start by looking at your water use at home:
180-gallons used to water your garden
60-gallons used to fill a bath-tub
60-gallons used to run the laundry machine
50-gallons used to run a shower (25-gallons if run “soft”)
12-gallons used to run a dishwasher
5-gallons used to flush a toilet
2-4 gallons used to brush your teeth

On average, people in the U.S. use more than 100-gallons of water a day, while people in most developing countries use less than 2-gallons daily.

• Nature’s Voice Our Choice is the theme of this internet-based poetry competition.
• The TAP project has partnered with restaurants in featured cities to help UNICEF provide safe drinking water to the world’s children.
• Live online music concert to raise money and awareness for world water issues.
• Dream Village, a children’s book publisher which allows kids to determine the outcome of their charitable donations, is sponsoring the World Changer Contest for children ages 6 to 10. Entries are due by May 1st for the opportunity to win a full scholarship to Beam Camp, a four-week summer program for boys and girls ages 7 to 17 in Strafford, New Hampshire.
• Little Drops, Big Ripples, is new contest launched by Purex Natural Elements for Canadian residents to submit their tips on how to keep water resources clean. For every entry received, Purex will make a donation to the Clean Water Project. In the U.S. consumers can bid on a tote designed by a celebrity and proceeds will be donated to the Earth Day Network.
• All The Way To The Ocean is a visual book developed to give kids the chance to understand the cause and effect relationship between our cities’ trash filled storm drains and the worlds water gateways.
• Make your voice heard by signing an online petition to add Article 31 (right to water) to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly.

via: http://koodooz.blogspot.com/2009/03/world-water-day.html