Are you concerned about the coming water crisis? Here’s an exciting opportunity to take awareness-raising and action to a new level. Water Hour, 8PM local time on June 11th is a moment in time for a celebration, a torrent of messages, an outburst of action for water! Water Hour takes a whole new approach: we must leave fear and guilt behind, reconnect with the awe and wonder of water in our lives, and create positive change from a positive place. It’s about falling in love with water, all over again. This event taps into the enormous power of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Youtube, allowing us to join together across the globe to create something wonderful. You can participate right now.
Just go to www.waterhour.org and follow these steps:
READY,
Reconnect to your most amazing, touching, or hilarious experiences with water, and share your water moments on the website for a chance to win a beautiful framed print by photographer James Phillips.
SET,
Submit your ideas for how to mark the hour and declare that you care on June 11th , and vote up your favourites!
GO,
Take part in the top voted ideas during Water Hour or express yourself in your own way – just be sure to share your action or message with the world through the Water Hour social networks.
KEEP GOING,
Declare your commitment, large or small, on www.waterhour.org to protect water at home or in your community.
Category Archives: Media
Water Hour
Haiti Job
The annual hurricanes that pass through its country let the world know about Haiti. What the world saw in Haiti was always an image of floods and pain.
In 2010, we saw another, a different suffering in Haiti. A densely populated city was hit by a violent earthquake. Haiti was devastated. 230,000 lives were lost; the survivors had to desperately hang on to their lives to survive. We saw Haiti in search for water.
In Haiti, lives were lost, but also saved through water. In the summer of 2010, we (the Pursuit of Water team) are off to Haiti to capture the Haiti Water Story in camera and share with everyone.
Republic of Haiti
Haiti is a country located in the West Indies. It was a French colony, but was the first black republic in Latin America to gain independence. It is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, due to continuous dictatorships. Most of the inhabitants are descendants of African slaves; the official languages are French and French-based Haitian Creole; the main religions are Catholic and African-based animistic Voodoo.
Three-fourth of the land is mountainous; the population is concentrated in the lower regions. Droughts and hurricanes occur frequently, causing much damage.
National Geographic
on Water
National Geographic Magazine featured water as a special issue on April, 2010. Great photography with a powerful messages on global water issues! Check out: National Geographic Magazine
Statistics
Nearly 70% of the world’s fresh water is locked in ice.
Most of the rest is in aquifers that we’re draining much more quickly than the natural recharge rate.
Two-thirds of our water is used to grow food.
With 83 million more people on earth each year, water demand will keep going up unless we change how we use it.
Americans use about 100 gallons (380 liters) of water at home each day.
Millions of the world’s poorest subsist on fewer than five gallons (19 liters).
46% of people on earth do not have water piped to their homes.
Women in developing countries walk an average of 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) to get water.
In 15 years, 1.8 billion people will live in regions of severe water scarcity.
One out of eight people lacks access to clean water.
3.3 million die from water-related health problems each year.
Washing hands with soap can reduce diarrheal disease by 45%.
An eradication campaign that includes a simple water filter has cut the number of Guinea Worm cases by 99.9% since 1986.
The weight of China’s three gorges reservoir will tilt the earth’s axis by nearly an inch (2.54 centimeters).
The longest water tunnel, supplying New York City, is 85 miles and leaks up to 35 million gallons (132 million liters) a day.
The Itaipú dam in South America cost $18 billion and took 17 years to build.
Dam projects have displaced up to 80 million people worldwide.
U.S. vacationers rank going to the beach or a lack as their favorite outdoor activity.
More Americans fish than play golf or tennis.
The U.S. recreational boating industry generated $33.6 billion in 2008.
In Florida, 3,000 gallons (11,356 liters) are used to water the grass for each golf game played.
U.S. swimming pools lose 150 billion gallons (567 billion liters) to evaporation every year.
Check out: National Geographic Magazine
Haiti quake
How to Help
Tens of thousands of people were feared to have died after an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 devastated Haiti. Schools, hospitals and homes in Port-au-Prince collapsed, as did the parliament building and the headquarters of the United Nations mission. The Red Cross said a third of Haiti’s 9 million people would probably need emergency help. +Read more @The Economist
Haiti Earthquake Updates
You Can Do Something
Huffington Post Impact has launched a brand new way you can help the emergency efforts in Haiti. They team up with The U.S. Fund For UNICEF and International Medical Corps to update the online store with products you can purchase to benefit the recovery effort. On the store, you can purchase water purification tablets, emergency hygiene kits, protein biscuits and other items that will go directly to save lives in Haiti. +Read more @Causecast
Haiti Earthquake Relief: How You Can Help @Causecast
The American Red Cross, UNICEF, Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean’s foundation), Operation USA, Save The Children, STILLERSTRONG, Partners In Health, Mercy Corps, Doctors Without Borders, Direct Relief, Oxfam, The UN World Food Programme, Baptist Haiti Mission, International Medical Corps, Catholic Relief Services, Earthquake Relief Fund, CARE
How to Help @KLTV
Mercy Ship, Compassion International, YWAM Tyler
A list of Charitable Organizations Active in US @MSNBC
First Newsletter
Happy New Year!
Our first newsletter! +view Subscribe our newsletter. +subscribe
We are waiting for creative partnership inquiries from our future partners.
Any partnership or sponsorship inquiries, mail to: friend@pursuitofwater.org
Chat with
David Zetland
On November 5th, Tim had a fabulous water chat with David Zetland in Berkley, CA, USA. They talked about the Pursuit of Water project and other water issues for about one hour and 20 minutes in a small cafe.
David is an economist and a lecturer at The University of California, Berkley. He is very interested in water and runs a blog called Aguanomics (The Economics of Water). He gave us a lot of information and advice on water. Their water chat has been recorded by David and you can hear it from his blog.
“…we discuss The Pursuit of Water (still in the planning stages), the interaction of supply and demand, the role of water in human settlement and role of religion in improving water distribution.”
from Aguanomics
Podcast: Tim and David’s Water Chat
Thank you, David for your time and help!
Growing
In March of 2009, I decided to make a film for raising awareness on water issues around the World. On starting this project I believed that all I would need would be a MacBook Pro, a good/handy video camera, some money and myself to make this film. I was wrong.
Yes, I am making a film about water, but you don’t just go out and start filming the first river you see. You need a lot of research done, accounting, organizing and more. So much was needed for the project and it just never seemed to stop coming. But the most important realization I had: I definitely needed a team.
It’s nearing the end of December 2009, and it has been 9 months since the birth of this project. I have been in the United States traveling to different cities connecting with people and organizations and also promoting the film project. I have had the opportunity of meeting people from the cities that I traveled in and it is awesome to say that the project is growing. It’s so encouraging and exciting. More people have volunteered and are willing to help with the project than I ever expected.
So far, 35 people from 15 countries (Germany, India, Lebanon, Madagascar, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Samoa, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela) have made an impact on the Pursuit of Water project! Isn’t it amazing?
From now on, I don’t want to call it my project; it is OUR PROJECT!
p.s. and… there’s a space for you! volunteer + you can do something
Tim
Director of The Pursuit of Water
