WHAT THE FRACK IS UP WITH WATER??

I am not a water expert and this Blog Post was written without politics in mind.  I am a passionate girl and the following is my opinion sprinkled with several hyperlinks of different research.  I wrote this as a Call To Action for all of us to band and work together.  
Together, we can make a difference.

Beautiful snowy fun from the Internet. :)

As a child, I had really amazing and deep conversations with my Dad. 


One afternoon, we were watching it snow outside.  He shook his head and said that I would see wars waged over water in my lifetime.  I laughed and told him that was pretty ridiculous, seeing as we had a couple feet of snow right in front of us.




Little did I know that genius man was right again.



Drought.

California Drought

It's no laughing matter, especially for those of us in California, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.

We are running out of water.







We are looking at money to save us.

 I have never seen a dollar bill actually let out a drop of moisture.  Have you?

MONEY! It's awesome, but it won't quench thirst!

Can we really say that money is a solution?

Anyone else hear about the Fracking operation in Ohio who bought all of a small town's water in order to FRACK??     Remind me again how money, especially big money, is helping any of us?? 

It's so fracking disgusting.

Fracking has been causing crisis after crisis.

Nobody is listening.

Where will the animals live?

Humanity was told to quit raping the Rain Forests, because the consequences would eventually be felt world wide.

Nobody listened.

Is it worth it?

 Humanity was told to quit harvesting so many trees for paper products and that there are a zillion alternatives to trees.

Nobody listened.

Absolutely stunning.  How much water does that pool take?

Instead, we build 5-Star Resorts in the desert with huge swimming pools and impressive fountains.  "Lawn" idea came from Europe, where it's actually an indigenous plant because of the moist weather?  

Beautiful!  Please recycle water... :)

We build more golf courses, all over the world, and make sure we keep the fairways and those putting greens--GREEN.  We have massive sprinkler systems for lawns.  Did you know that the whole idea of the lawn came from Europe and those of us in desert climates were never meant to have one??

In all my years on Earth, I have never seen cement grow.

How many times have you walked on a sidewalk and had to side-step it because of a rogue sprinkler who's nozzle is pointed the wrong way and  watering cement?  How many places do you see random water streaming down a gutter?














In order to live, we MUST have water.  Actual, factual H2O.  If you think you can just survive on soda or orange juice, ask yourself this question:  What's one of the FIRST ingredients?

The human body can only go about three days without water.







I can sit at my computer here and drone on and on about the problems we are all facing.  Instead, let's take a look at various possible solutions!

Thank you, Internet! Inspiring.

I am not an expert and I don't have all the answers.  (NOT EVEN CLOSE.)  But I have ideas.  And maybe YOU have some ideas.  And maybe, just maybe, we ALL work together to solve what's aiming to be our most critical hours as a humanity.







Here's a list of some ideas for US to help conserve water:

1. Let's quit filling swimming pools.  The hotter it gets, the faster water evaporates.  The more water  evaporates, the more we have to fill our swimming pools.  Are swimming pools a necessity of our existence?

2. IF we MUST have golf courses remain green, use ONLY recycled water.  I know a lot of places are already on board with this concept, and more are allegedly on their way to joining the trend.  What would it look like if everyone did that?

3. I know people who shower twice a day.  Unless you work in a tar pit or a mine shaft, I am unclear as to why two showers are necessary...?  Maybe shower once or twice a week and fill the rest of your cleansing time with taking  a bath.  A bath uses less water and is more soothing sometimes than a shower, yeah?

4. Get rid of lawns!  In California, especially Southern California, we are IN THE DESERT.  What would it look like if we had our gifted gardeners plant beautiful succulents instead?  They need a fraction of the water and they go through the same photosynthesis other plants do and release oxygen as well.  Let's give them a little love and invite them in to our world more.

5.  Awwwwwwwww, NUTS.  Almonds.  Oh man oh man, I love almonds.  They are the only nut I can actually eat.  However, I am breaking up with them.  It takes one gallon of water to grow ONE ALMOND.  ONE. Nuts are awesome and highly nutritious.  We can live without nuts.  We cannot live without water.  What would it look like if Nut Farmers instead grew something like... Aloe Vera??  Aloe Vera has a ton of health benefits and is indigenous to this region of the world.     
I am positive there's a gazillion other grocery items that can be grown, using a fraction of the water and still be profitable to the Farmers.  I am a THOUSAND percent on the side of all Farmers everywhere, but perhaps there is some wiggle room within the confines of this drought for new opportunities of growing different things?

 
Just like you, I love being alive and am so grateful to still be here.  I hope we can help each other out and get crackin' with some water conservation before this someday becomes a delicious regret.

Peace

Michelle Tomlinson