To Those Who’ve Received: Time To Give Back

in , /by

It’s World Water Day this weekend and like most special days, a gift or thoughtful gesture would certainly be appropriate! For those of us with the incredible good fortune to enjoy plenty of clean, safe water, here are two good “give back” ideas recently brought to my attention.

1. No excuses about the recession or being broke, because this won’t cost you a dime. All you have to do is click! The ONE DROP awareness campaign will be raising awareness for the global water crisis and World Water Day across blogs, Digg, Twitter, Facebook and many other networks in an comprehensive social media effort called Ripple. Get all the details here: http://www.onedrop.org/ripple

Right now, DO THIS TODAY! Friday March 20th is ONE DROP’s rally event on Digg: DIGG FOR WATER. The idea is for as many supporters as possible to “digg” the cause and get some world-wide-web attention for urgent global water issues. (ONE DROP is an NGO launched by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté that aims to provide improved access to clean water in many poverty-stricken parts of the world.)

2. The Fill The Glass campaign at GlobalGiving benefits international water-related projects and this campaign hopes to raise funds for 10 grass-roots water projects that you can view on their website http://www.globalgiving.com/water/

You get to pick the specific project/s you wish to support. But don’t expect any easy decisions, as the choices include:
Supplying critical water for a Hatian Hospital
Health care and water for 7,000 Gambians
Improved water access for rural Ethiopians
Clean water for Sudanese war refugees

Projects that raise over $10,000 between March 9 and March 30 will receive additional funding from GlobalGiving. Easy! Just divert some of those bucks you’ve saved by sticking with tap water!

Extreme Water Infrastructure Sports, Amateur Division

in , /by

Geo Contest! Where, oh where? There’s a (modest) prize and heavy praise waiting for the first reader/s who can identify these locations.

It looks like reservoir mis-use in the name of sport is an international phenomenon! In this clip from the land down under, our Oz sportsmen do without the fancy equipment and skilled videographers, but make up for it with a head-bangin’ punk rock track. Here, see “Aussie guys jumping off a huge tower at the res.”

A mere 5 seconds long, don’t blink or you’ll miss the action in “Water Tower Golfing.” This is strong evidence for the theory that “everything’s been done already.”

This one, aptly titled “Redneck Wakboarding,” depicts that memorable day when “Mitch went wakeboarding at the water treatment plant in the mud while it was freezing outside.”

Extreme Water Infrastructure Sports, Part I

in , /by

I know that dams, by design, often create recreational opportunities but I don’t think this was the water sport that designers intended . If you’re a kayak enthusiast with nerves of steel and adrenaline to spare, a trip to Wales for a ride down the 1:3 gradient of the Llyn Brianne Reservoir’s 300 ft. concrete overspill run might be on your “to-do” list. In November 2008, these sportsmen reached speeds of up to 45 mph. (This incident is by no means a first; do a Google video search for Llyn Briane and you’ll see what I mean!)

Officials were less thrilled, though the “dam perpetrators” were not caught. This entire fascinating story from WalesOnline includes the point/counterpoint opinions as well as some interesting insight into the important role of the videographer in these well-orchestrated stunts.

(more)
Back in the USA, these fellows are without fancy boats and gear…only what must be the best-quality pairs of shorts that money can buy. Sorta-professional cinematic music plays as aimless youth are “sliding down the spillway at Whitewater Memorial State Park in Liberty Indiana.” Apparently it was worth the risk as “anonymous guy” concludes, “This is so awesome and more fun than any amusement park waterslide that I’ve ever been on. Now this is the real deal!”

Finally, “Nikipedia” slides down the Kamas spillway in Utah with his incredulous friend behind the camera providing the laugh track. (The nameless cameraman seems to get a bigger thrill out of the stunt than the rider!)

How about Sewranee Springs? Effluessence?

in , /by

Yea, marketing! With a strategic sleight of hand, we can plaster a new name over something less pleasant and magically change everyones’ perceptions! Los Angeles is on to this trick, as noted in this story from Reuters on how the water crisis is forcing the issue of reuse in Los Angeles as the situation intensifies. The article notes,

Just don’t call it “toilet-to-tap.”

County officials prefer the term “Groundwater Replenishment System,” a name chosen after similar projects in Los Angeles and San Diego fell prey to public misconceptions, also known as the “yuck” factor,” and local election-year politics.

Their experience underscores one of the great lessons facing municipal officials across the U.S. West as they seek to bring purification and recycling technologies to bear against drought cycles expected to worsen with climate change.

The ideas are flowing! SiouxArTesian? Trader Joes, here we come! ReAgua? Let’s all join in the fun! You, too, can create your own re-branded, re-positioned “groundwater replenishment” product. Just go to The Soft Drink Generator, an interactive distraction where you can build your very own bottle from the groundwater up.

Water Quality Research for (and by) Dummies

in , , /by

Taste: recent research conducted both in the U.S. and Europe has repeatedly shown that taste (along with safety and convenience) is a leading motivator for the use of tap water alternatives. But tastes like what, exactly? To find out, we’ve done some exclusive research of our own.

Because Thirsty in Suburbia has zero qualifications or credentials to conduct sound, serious research, this “study” is absolutely non-scientific. Plus, since our stimulus check bounced we’re unfunded too!

Never mind, we will press on. Presenting the Google-based Virtual Water Taste Focus Group.

Methodology: In February, 2009 the exact phrase “our water tastes like” was entered into Google Search. 35 total results were returned and 6 were disqualified for syntax, leaving 29 “participants.” (♪ ♫ Don’t know much about science books ♫, but do know our way around Illustrator–so we’ve made a snazzy chart for you!)

1. our water tastes like chlorine
2. Our water tastes like pure and delicious water
3. our water tastes like dirt.
4. Our water tastes like water
5. Our water tastes like the premier bottled drinking water it is
6. our water tastes like shiat
7. our water tastes like dirt
8. our water tastes like tap water
9. our water tastes like dirt
10. Our water tastes like sulphur
11. our water tastes like lake water
12. our water tastes like crap
13. our water tastes like nectar from the tap
14. Our water tastes like the chlorine from a swimming pool.
15. our water tastes like bleach
16. our water tastes like algae
17. our water tastes like chlorine
18. our water tastes like horse s**t
19. our water tastes like it was strained through an ashtray
20. our water tastes like chemicals from new pipes
21. OUR WATER TASTES LIKE SHIT
22. our water tastes like someone dissolved a nickel in it
23. Our water tastes like butt
24. Our water tastes like disinfectant
25. our water tastes like carrots
26. our water tastes like a swimming pool
27. our water tastes like something George Washington himself might take a sip of and die from
28. our water tastes like liquid gold
29. our water tastes like golden nectar

One Latte with Change, Please.

in , /by

Suddenly, they’re everywhere. Jaw-dropping “water footprint” numbers are marching through mainstream media channels, but I have some nagging problems with most examples I’ve seen. One, they usually gloss over how the numbers are calculated, which invites skepticism. And two, outside of the broad advice to “save water” there are rarely concrete suggestions of what we’re to do about it. And third, is the ending missing? What about the water cycle? Aren’t all those molecules still around, somewhere?

One stat burning the wires over the past several months: one cotton t-shirt = 2,700 litres of water. Aside from the fuzzy math, what’s being suggested here? Wear rayon? Crash diet? Go shirtless? What? And don’t even go there with the “organic cotton” platitudes. This particular article from www.wendmag.com concludes,

What’s the bottom line when it comes to cotton? Before you buy that cotton t-shirt, keep in mind what your water footprint is, and who and where the production of your purchase is really going to affect. Because ultimately, that water could be used for other things.

Huh? That reminds me of when my parents would admonish us to clean our plates because “children were starving in Africa;” we, of course would reply, “well, let’s send this food to them!” Many “water footprints” strike me as dumb and dumbed-down in the same way. Your not buying a t-shirt will not directly benefit the water-deprived of the world. And by oversimplifying a complex system, we encourage disbelief or worse, apathy.

My bottom line? Too much “GEE WOW,” very little “WHAT NOW.”

I think this video from WWF does a better job of avoiding the insinuation that we all deny ourselves latte and thus save the planet. It’s the bigger point that we need to rethink how we produce and consume just about everything, in our personal lives and businesses. But is it working? If you’d like an idea of the challenge in selling this concept to the broader public, have a look at the comment section for this video.

Water 2.0: Make it Yourself

in /by

I know, I know, you’d never purchase just plain bottled water, but you crave that special energizing-oxidizing-ginger-ginseng-koalaberry flavor only available wrapped in plastic!

Fret no more, now you can have your tap water and flavor it too. There’s just one caveat, it may involve some preparation as they are “crafted with the care of sophisticated cocktails.” Ms. Bazs, one of our favorite quality-minded style-mavens, tips us to this entry at www.tastingtable.com:

Water 2.0
A new book elevates the most essential beverage

We applauded ourselves when we switched from canned soda to flavored water, but then we read that these colorful elixirs are just as loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients (not to mention their carbon footprints). Plus they’re expensive. Now what?

Thanks to a new book, you now can make healthy flavored waters at home. Cool Waters, by New York-based food stylist Brian Preston-Campbell, contains 50 recipes for water-based drinks that are full of all-natural ingredients.

Crafted with the care of sophisticated cocktails, the recipes range from post-workout quenchers to complex, food-friendly pairings, including the antioxidant-rich Wet/Dry, a berry-flavored drink made exclusively with dried fruit. It’s become our new predinner drink for nights when wine is out of the question.

Snitch on that Water Hog the Easy Way

in , , /by

Watching your jerk-twerp neighbor thumb his nose at drought-driven water restrictions? Fuming as his sprinklers soak a perfect green lawn, under the cover of night, while washing his giant SUV on an ODD day?! And smirking at you while he does it? You’re MAD AS HELL, and you’re not going to take it any more!

If you live in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, exacting revenge is just a few clicks away. Just download the County’s ready-to-go Sworn Witness Statement for Outdoor Water Use. It easy! It’s legal! It’s notary-ready with words like “sworn to and subscribed!”
UPDATE July 2009: This document is no longer available online, but I’ve archived a pdf copy here.

Fill it out, drop it by City Hall, and now it’s your turn to smirk while you watch his lawn go as brown as yours! Feel better? Good, but don’t start your own little micro water war. Make up, act neighborly and initiate some over-the-fence chatter about xeriscaping.

But dogs can’t read.

in /by

“Waste not, want not.” But in this case, “waste, want not!” Aside from an abnormal fear of liability, I’m not sure what’s behind (ha ha) the motivation to post these warnings. But (ha ha) regardless of the reason, it certainly creates irresistable opportunities for crappy wordplay and bun-puns.

All photos from Flickr, number one (ha ha) photo from digehode, number two (ha ha) from rockzombie and number three from followtheleader.