ONE LOONEY IDEA
In 2006, we began a relationship with Ethiopia that we cannot turn our backs on.
We don’t really want to turn away, but life became undeniably more DIFFICULT after our first, and consecutive trips. Members of our family were in Ethiopia in ‘06, ’07, ’08, ’09, and ’13. In Ethiopia, the majority of people build a life with less than a dollar a day. A dollar a day does not provide basic necessities. Roughly 39% of Ethiopians live below poverty (<$1.25 USD)—that is over 28 million people. The population of Canada is just over 35 million.
The world is not equitable.
***
We all have challenges. At this point in my life I am living with abundance. It doesn’t feel good to continue to accrue treasures when so many live with scarcity. I want to choose something different.
From January 15th, 2015 – January 14th, 2016, I am going to spend ONLY a dollar a day (average) for discretionary items.
I will put one loonie into my purse each day. Every time that I want to make a purchase, I will stop and think. I am becoming a thoughtful and responsible consumer, one day at a time—for a lifetime.
You can support me by pledging a dollar a day for any part of my 365 day challenge. The money will go to Canadian Humanitarian, who we have worked with extensively over the past nine years. —Just check out my Pledge Page on the left side bar.
Betam amisegnalo.
***
Water you thinking?
October 2013
Our large group of Canadian Humanitarian volunteers left the tan stucco centre in Gindo, and headed along a dusty road. A mountain loomed in the distance, bearing witness to this changing landscape. We entered a large fenced area and walked down a narrow ditch, worn away by long ago rains. The earth, a cow-hide red stained our white socks and ankles. Down at the bottom of the hill, cows grazed, oblivious to the enhancements taking place above them.
We could have been anywhere. The visual beauty camouflaged the struggle of this rural Ethiopian village. The poverty and the dry beaten land contrasted sharply with the sculptured rows and tidy crops within the farming project. A fence separated what was, and what could be. A transformation occurred.
On previous trips, volunteers dug a well, and installed a pump inside the gated farm. Prior to that, the long walk to fill water jugs prevented irrigation of crops, which limited planting to certain seasons and specific produce. On our trip, a drip irrigation system was installed. It would mean that crops, like tomatoes, that needed a regular water source could be grown. Near to the centre a market had been erected, and the produce from this CH project generated income, and pride.
Neither Ward nor I worked on the irrigation system. Yohannes did. Drip irrigation provides farmers the most efficient way to grow crops in water scarce areas, but historically it has been too expensive for small-plot farmers. The system worked on gravity, so the volunteers first built a wooden tower for the water barrel to sit upon. They used their physical strength, along with a variety of hand tools purchased in Addis Ababa. Over three days they laboured in the hot sun. At the end of the third day, our group walked into the field again for the first run of water through the system. One of the forefathers pumped the well, and ten-year-old Yohannes filled a bucket with water. He carried it over to the base of the tower. He climbed the ladder and poured the water into a large blue barrel. Keith, the primary planner, turned a valve at the bottom of the barrel. The water ran down a set of tubes to several different gardens. In each row, lines of perforated hose lay waiting. As fluid ran down the lines, tiny water drops pushed through the holes, and disappeared into the soil.
April, 2015
I heard a story on Alberta at Noon (A@N) about a Saskatchewan business banning the sale of bottled water. Most of us don’t know when or why bottled water became a lifestyle accessory. The CBC story prompted me to do a little research, and for reasons I cannot fully articulate, it has created a cascade of emotion.
Here is some of what I found out:
Since water is integral to human survival, transporting it has been a part of human life since early civilization. However, the production of bottled water didn’t begin until the 17th C when spa and water therapy gained recognition in improving one’s health. Bottled water became a safer alternative to tap water in the 18th C when contamination with cholera and typhoid occurred, and hundreds of people died. Water chlorination in the late 1800’s, reduced concerns about safety. A chasm developed between Europe and United States; whereby bottled water spread in Europe and declined in USA. In 1977, a successful campaign by Perrier led to a rebirth of bottled water as a luxury item in the States.
Today, it is the second most consumed bottled beverage, after soft drinks, and above milk, and beer.
Fill your kettle with some tap water, steep a large cup of tea, and pause and ponder the realities of our living.
- 780 million people (1 in 9) do not have access to safe drinkable water. 37% of those live in Subsaharan Africa. The jerry can used to transport water weighs over forty pounds when full, and women and children carry them for many miles.
- One in five deaths of children under five is due to water-related disease.
- Bottled water is a safe alternative where there is limited access to potable water.
- 41 billion gallons of bottled water are consumed every year around the world. 2.4 billion litres in Canada.
- The average price for a single litre of bottled water is $2.50. That is almost four times more expensive than gasoline! Alternatively, tap water costs around 1/10th of a cent per litre.
"Branding and bottling of water where there already exists a wholesome and safe supply of drinking water cannot be seen as a sustainable use of natural resources.” (Nick Reeves, executive director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management.)
- Bottled water “plays into our ever-growing laziness and impatience. [It] fills a perceived need for convenience.” (Elizabeth Royte, author of “Bottlemania”)
- The health and safety benefits from bottled water are debatable.
The Natural Resources Defense Council carried out a four-year review of the bottled water industry, and concluded "there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle, it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap."
- Convenience has infested our lives with parasitic fluidity. What are the environmental costs?
- PET (polyethylene terepthalate) is made using fossil fuels, which are a finite resource.
- Energy is required to produce and transport plastic water bottles, often from another continent.
- Carbon dioxide is a by-product of plastic production.
- Water is required in the production process. Some estimate that 2-3 times as much water is used, as goes into the bottle.
- Improper disposal/recycling is creating unnecessary garbage.
We use water filters in our home—for purported health reasons I have never bothered to research. We use reusable glass, plastic and metal bottles. And, YES! we have purchased plastic water bottles when lack of planning creates an “emergency”. Convenience becomes a commodity, for those who can afford it.
We have fallen victim to the just-is culture, and neglected our responsibilities toward justice.
The loonie challenge year for me is about examining habits. Spending is one of those habits, and consumption is another. What if I re-allocated our yearly filter funds toward a program that provided clean, safe drinking water for a community that did not have access? Wouldn’t that be a wiser investment in our future, not just from a human life perspective, but also from an environmental view? I think that it does make a difference walking a day in someone else’s shoes.
Carolyn Torhjelm, with Free the Children, in Kenya - 2013
RESPECT: "On this day, I shared the water walk with Barbara. We were a team. But the reality was we were sharing the job. Together, we carried a 50-pound jug full of water up the hill one km. Most Kenyan women do this 4-5 times a day!"
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