Water, water everywhere

My computer doesn't like me. Do you know what I mean? Some days it just rebels. Today is such a day. I wonder if I got a cute little imac things would be better. alas {sigh}

Bolivia. I learned a lot about Bolivia when I watched "The Corporation". For me, the first thing I do now when I hear about something and it is obviously biased(as is the case with this movie although not so much as with some others) is I run to Wikipedia. I LOVE Wikipedia. I use it as a verb now-in the same way I use 'google'...I'm hoping it will catch on, so spread the love! I am urging you all to wikipedia 'bechtel corporation' if you do not already know about the Cochabamba situation of the late 90's early 2000's. You see, I had heard a bit about some countries and the fact that their water was being privatised and that this was bad for them. That's all I knew. What I didn't know is that these companies(in the case of Bolivia--Bechtel) come in and they stake claim to all running water in the country. Now, for Bolivia, they had approached the World Bank and asked them for a loan to upgrade their countries failing water system. The only way the Bank would help them was for them to privatize said system. Thus, Bechtel bid and won the rights to the water in Cochabamba--the third largest city in Bolivia. Now...I'm thinking...how bad can this be because we all pay someone for water, right? Well, in a country where people make on average $70/month, try paying $20/month for your water bill. The rates were increased a week after the privatization occurred. And, to be fair to the company, they needed the funds to pay for much needed upgrades to their system. And, before Bechtel, many citizens got no water at all due to the corruption of the state. But, under Bechtel law, it was illegal to collect rain water. It was also illegal to collect water from a natural running source and carry it to your house. So, people everywhere had difficult decisions to make--pay for medical care or pay for water. Pay for your kids to go to school or pay for water. Pay for food or pay for water.

The beautiful thing is people have power. In the famed Cochabamba protests of 2000, the citizens took back their water supply and Bechtel was overthrown. Protest is a powerful thing. Did I once say that I wasn't going to get political on this site? Well, I lied. Those who know me well are just shocked at my resistance thus far.

So, how is this about green living? First off, who cares? This is my blog and I am going to write about whatever I want...I am the all omnipotent goddess of the blog afterall. But if you must. There are very few things that we, as humans, truly need and water is one of them. Breathable air is another. In fact, those are the two things that we would be totally screwed without. I think it is important to understand exactly what is happening to both. Sometimes, if you watch a movie like 'The Corporation' instead of 'Grey's Anatomy' you might just enlighten yourself. BUUUUUTTTTT it is so hard not to watch 'Grey's'...I love George. I mean are him and Izzy ever going to work things out or what? And, Dr. McDreamy or McSteamy whichever one is your favorite flavour...how can we do without? Here's the thing--it's summer so they're all reruns anyways. Skip the rerun and borrow our copy of this movie...or read a book or rent something else...I know that I am sounding pushy, but--again, don't you know me at all?

Deep Thinking

So, a few things have me deep thinking these days...first, I watched "The Corporation" . We have a copy for anyone who wants to see it. It has me really thinking about water(and so many other things)...what more could you want from a movie, but Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Maude Barlow, Micheal Moore, and a "Pat" look alike(her name was not Pat, but if you are cool and hip like me you should know who I am talking about--she provided some much needed comic relief...at least at our house). Soon, I'll have my thoughts together enough to talk about it.

Second, I got this link sent to me from one of my cronies. Just kidding, Christine. It is super cool and helps you visualize consumption in a totally new way...check it out:

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php

Thanks for sending it Chris!

Rain Barrels, Toilets and a Potty Training 2 Year Old

Okay, so this post is just me rambling on a rainy day, but I was thinking, with all this crazy rain we're having here, how much I love my rain barrel. Yesterday, in preparation for the coming storm, I emptied it. Now, currently, we don't have a lot of plants, so one rain barrel has proven more than sufficient as most of our previous neighbours will tell you how reluctant we are to water our lawn. But, it makes you so aware of how much water you are actually using. I think you become more careful with it as you know there is not an infinite amount in there. I wish people could see all the water we use that way. It is all connected in a global sense. Water is an especially good example of how those close to the source affect those further away.

When we were building this house, one thing we knew for sure that we wanted to include was dual flush toilets. So, we made an appointment with the plumbing people. First thing we did when we got there was told them why we were there...well, we were met with looks of absolute astonishment! You don't want one of those they told us. No one wants those. I said--hey, 'those' have been mandatory in Australia for close to 15 years. Reluctantly, they sold us the $300 upgraded toilet--a Mansfield pressure assist model. Pull handle up for close to 6 litres and down for more like 4 litres. Most people jump the first time they use it. It is actually quite amusing for us. Kind of a cruel party trick as the more people have to drink, the stronger their reaction tends to be. But, it is absolutely the best toilet we have ever had...we love it! And, believe me when I say, there was a time in my life if you had told me I would be writing about my love for a toilet I would have laughed until I peed. Now, we kick ourselves for not putting them upstairs, but, at the time, I had spent a crazy amount on upgrades--and, we decided we would let it mellow if it was yellow in the non public spaces. And, we do...in fact, actually getting our kids to flush the toilet has become a problem.

So, water usage at our house is far, far below the average. I know(only because we are crazy aware of things like this and the town of Okotoks has had issues taking our water readings over the last year) that we use on average 8 cubic metres of water in this house per month. Like I said, we don't water our lawn...in fact, we are getting rid of it soon. We also have low flow faucets and a front loading washing machine. Why am I telling you all this? Well, it's rainy here, so I am thinking lots about water today...that, and, my daughter is potty training so I am thinking lots about pee. She has actually taken to using pee as a weapon. Whenever she is angry with us, she whips off her pants and her underwear and pees on the spot. The other night in protest to us cruel parents making her go to bed, she quietly got out of bed, took off her clothes and had a gigantic pee on the floor before promptly laying down and falling asleep in it. Good thing I checked on her shortly thereafter. Thank God she hasn't figured out that poop has much more power behind it...peace out.