Assignment 16- Reagan Smith

Water- on the most basic level, only comes in one variety; two hydrogen atoms smashed together with one oxygen atom, and we have this natural resource: water. There’s ice, rain, sleet, snow, hail, steam, but it’s all water. But Americans don’t just look at the basic level- there’s high pH water, flavored water, infused water, spring water, mountain water, valley water, glacial water, bottled water, tap water, filtered water. But it all starts with two hydrogens and one oxygen bonded together. I’m sure we’ve all heard the facts about H₂O- our body is 60 percent water, our planet is 75 percent water and only 3 percent is fresh, and that only 1 percent of the water is drinkable. But what does this mean for people like us?

We use water like it grows on trees, the people with some of the best water in the world are dehydrated, and spare change, literally pennies can make a difference for people across the globe. While some things may be as simple as ABC, water is as simple as CDE: Conservation, Dehydration, and Expansion.

According to the Thirst Project, Americans use an average of 150 gallons of water a day for bathing, cooking, cleaning, drinking, etc. We need to stop the overusing and start over-conserving. Well, we probably shouldn’t do that, but stop overusing water. It’s unbelievable that in 2016, people still leave the water on while they are brushing their teeth! Maybe it’s the sound or the visual stimulation that helps you to brush better. Try pulling up a video of a waterfall and it will fix both problems, I can guarantee you it will have the same, if not better effect on your brushing efficacy. Well, I actually can’t guarantee you that, but that’s beside the point. But in all seriousness, we need to turn off the tap while brushing. This can shave a gallon or two off of our daily usage, up to 730 gallons a year. Next, we need to move on from our beloved bottled water, which should really be called the beloved water enemy. Millions of Americans buy bottled water, despite it not being safer than tap water, and a lot of the time, it comes from tap water anyway. Bottled water is detrimental to water conservation. For every bottle of water, it takes three times that to produce the plastic and run the manufacturing processes to make it. And if that isn’t enough, according to Kentucky American tap water costs less than a penny a gallon, where bottled water costs exponentially more.

Dehydration- according to one medical dictionary, is defined by “the loss of water and salts essential for normal body function.” This loss of water and salts can cause a chemical imbalance in your body ranging from mild symptoms such as headache, dry mouth, and nausea, to critical life threatening ones including organ failure and even death. All of these issues are preventable by simply drinking water. While the actual amount of water needed varies depending on who you talk to- 8 glasses, 10 glasses, a gallon, etc., there’s no doubt we need more of it. Now is the time to move forward from sugary soft drinks (which is another layer of the issue entirely) and hydrating with pure water.

Finally, we need to expand the world’s access to water. According to the United Nations, 780 million people do not have access to clean drinking water. This is simply unacceptable. People argue that people in Africa should just boil their water, or that we have bigger issues to face. Those two statements raise three problems. This isn’t an issue that just affects African Nations- according to the world resources institute, all continents, except Antarctica, experience at least a high level of water stress in at least one area or country. To address boiling, wood resources are scarce in these areas, as they are used sparingly to build homes, and they couldn’t afford to burn them. Finally, water is a starting point for treating world diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Yellow and Dengue Fever, Hepatitis, and so on. Because without clean water, people can’t stay hydrated. Without hydration, there is no clean water for sanitation, which continues on the cycle of unsanitary living.

So let’s step back and think about this: we have access to water at a low cost and abuse it by leaving the tap on while brushing, but aren’t hydrated. We live our lives not thinking about the water we drink and millions of people in the world worry about the water they drink, where they’ll find it, or what it will do to them. We- as in not just the twenty people in the room, not just the United States, but the entire population of our planet has three issues to deal with: C, D, ad E: Conservation, Dehydration, and Expansion. So let’s act on it. Do your part and give to organizations like Thirst Project and be a water advocate: start conserving, stop dehydration, and challenge others to expand the world’s access to water.