About Our Project

Water shortages are more of a problem than plastic excesses. You should go a month without using, including consumption, any water!

Water shortages are more of a problem than plastic excesses. You should go a month without using, including consumption, any water!

Waterless,

Thanks for your comment. I actually wrote an article called: Why plastic? Why not other causes? in response to your comment. The article goes more into why we are focusing mostly on reducing plastic waste right now instead of other worthy initiatives. However, my comments here are more in response to the actual water crisis.

I know current and future global water shortages is a real concern we face. Personally, I believe most of the water I currently use in my home is reclaimed and used again as potable water. So I don't see that my going without water for a month would make a difference.

On the other hand, every piece of plastic I dispose of that isn't recycled has to go somewhere to live out its very very long life and much of it ends up harming our environment in some way. For me, dramatically reducing my plastic waste is something I can do today to make a very real positive impact.

From what I understand the water shortage crisis is a big deal and something people should become educated on! People can search 'water crisis' and read plenty from the World Water Council and many others about the issue. Melanie and I also found Blue Gold to be an enlightening documentary, which is available on DVD and via Instant Queue on Netflix.

For me, it seems like the biggest issue with the water crisis is inadequate distribution of our planets renewable fresh water supply. This issue of fresh water distribution seems to me like food shortages in some countries. They aren't short, because there ins't enough food in the world, but because there isn't enough in the place where they have the shortages. Some places have more than enough, while others don't have enough.

I know that is a grossly oversimplified view of a very complex issue, but I think it helps paint a picture that we can start to work from. The issue of distribution is certainly exacerbated by other factors such as increased population, polluted fresh water, companies privatizing fresh water supplies, more people living in places where water has to be shipped (i.e. cities in deserts), overall increased consumption of all goods, and many others.

We might be able to curb population growth with more education, but I don't think we are going to get everyone to have two or less kids to keep population close to a constant.

The issue of polluted water is one we address here at NoNewPlastic.com by encouraging reduction of plastic waste (which always seems to find its way into our water), but certainly there are many other practices that are having very detrimental impacts on our fresh water supply. In addition to polluting fresh water less, if not completely eliminating fresh water pollution, I think we can also look at solutions for purifying polluted water and even desalination technologies that take our abundant salt water resource and turn it into fresh water. Now I know that both purifying solutions and especially desalination options currently require a huge amount of energy. However, I am of the opinion that we will create new, sustainable energy sources that will provide us more energy than we could ever need. There is so much energy in our universe and we will find responsible ways to harness it.

The issue of governments turning over water supplies to big corporations is one I'm just starting to learn about. When one of the most fundamental elements we need to survive is something people are denied, because they can't afford it, that is a major issue! Clearly it can be good to limit water usage at times for certain purposes, but everyone should have free access to at least enough fresh water to live on.

I've heard of cities in the US that have banned the building of new homes, because their natural water supply can't handle anymore citizens. This to me seems like a great solution, because it forces those people to go live somewhere else where there is a greater abundance of water.

Now the final point I'll make on this is about consumption of goods in general. Almost everything we buy involves water in some way. The cars we buy use huge quantities of water in the manufacturing process, even a to-go latte takes 53-gallons of water to produce (according to an article at TreeHugger.com). Being more mindful of what the true cost of the things we buy is and buying less (and/or more responsibly) is yet another way we can make a positive difference in the goal of all people having free access to fresh water. In fact, since much of what US citizens consume is produced in many of these water-starved areas, consuming less stuff might even make a bigger difference than taking a shorter shower.

One organization that Melanie is really passionate about that she shared with me is charity: water, which brings hygiene education and clean, safe drinking water via wells to villages in developing nations. They seem to be doing a great job and I encourage people to check them out and support them if they feel so inclined.

Again, thanks Waterless for the comment. I'm excited for NoNewPlastic.com to be a place where we can discuss important issues like this one.

Waterless,

Thanks for your comment. I actually wrote an article called: Why plastic? Why not other causes? in response to your comment. The article goes more into why we are focusing mostly on reducing plastic waste right now instead of other worthy initiatives. However, my comments here are more in response to the actual water crisis.

I know current and future global water shortages is a real concern we face. Personally, I believe most of the water I currently use in my home is reclaimed and used again as potable water. So I don’t see that my going without water for a month would make a difference.

On the other hand, every piece of plastic I dispose of that isn’t recycled has to go somewhere to live out its very very long life and much of it ends up harming our environment in some way. For me, dramatically reducing my plastic waste is something I can do today to make a very real positive impact.

From what I understand the water shortage crisis is a big deal and something people should become educated on! People can search ‘water crisis’ and read plenty from the World Water Council and many others about the issue. Melanie and I also found Blue Gold to be an enlightening documentary, which is available on DVD and via Instant Queue on Netflix.

For me, it seems like the biggest issue with the water crisis is inadequate distribution of our planets renewable fresh water supply. This issue of fresh water distribution seems to me like food shortages in some countries. They aren’t short, because there ins’t enough food in the world, but because there isn’t enough in the place where they have the shortages. Some places have more than enough, while others don’t have enough.

I know that is a grossly oversimplified view of a very complex issue, but I think it helps paint a picture that we can start to work from. The issue of distribution is certainly exacerbated by other factors such as increased population, polluted fresh water, companies privatizing fresh water supplies, more people living in places where water has to be shipped (i.e. cities in deserts), overall increased consumption of all goods, and many others.

We might be able to curb population growth with more education, but I don’t think we are going to get everyone to have two or less kids to keep population close to a constant.

The issue of polluted water is one we address here at NoNewPlastic.com by encouraging reduction of plastic waste (which always seems to find its way into our water), but certainly there are many other practices that are having very detrimental impacts on our fresh water supply. In addition to polluting fresh water less, if not completely eliminating fresh water pollution, I think we can also look at solutions for purifying polluted water and even desalination technologies that take our abundant salt water resource and turn it into fresh water. Now I know that both purifying solutions and especially desalination options currently require a huge amount of energy. However, I am of the opinion that we will create new, sustainable energy sources that will provide us more energy than we could ever need. There is so much energy in our universe and we will find responsible ways to harness it.

The issue of governments turning over water supplies to big corporations is one I’m just starting to learn about. When one of the most fundamental elements we need to survive is something people are denied, because they can’t afford it, that is a major issue! Clearly it can be good to limit water usage at times for certain purposes, but everyone should have free access to at least enough fresh water to live on.

I’ve heard of cities in the US that have banned the building of new homes, because their natural water supply can’t handle anymore citizens. This to me seems like a great solution, because it forces those people to go live somewhere else where there is a greater abundance of water.

Now the final point I’ll make on this is about consumption of goods in general. Almost everything we buy involves water in some way. The cars we buy use huge quantities of water in the manufacturing process, even a to-go latte takes 53-gallons of water to produce (according to an article at TreeHugger.com). Being more mindful of what the true cost of the things we buy is and buying less (and/or more responsibly) is yet another way we can make a positive difference in the goal of all people having free access to fresh water. In fact, since much of what US citizens consume is produced in many of these water-starved areas, consuming less stuff might even make a bigger difference than taking a shorter shower.

One organization that Melanie is really passionate about that she shared with me is charity: water, which brings hygiene education and clean, safe drinking water via wells to villages in developing nations. They seem to be doing a great job and I encourage people to check them out and support them if they feel so inclined.

Again, thanks Waterless for the comment. I’m excited for NoNewPlastic.com to be a place where we can discuss important issues like this one.

I like the idea of no new plastic. Like you I reuse my water botter and coffee mug. But I don't know how to buy milk. We use alot of milk and it comes in plastic gallon jug.

I like the idea of no new plastic. Like you I reuse my water botter and coffee mug. But I don’t know how to buy milk. We use alot of milk and it comes in plastic gallon jug.

Saw you on the Weather Channel. Great project, which I will gladly join you in. I am 71, remember when we had no paper towels, plastic jars, etc. I garden, small patch in small back yard, make cortains from old tablecloths found at yard sales, can and freeze. You are inspirational. (Did you know that 'permanent press' gets that way by being sprayed or dipped in some kind of petroleum derivative? More hidden petroleum.)
Gail

Saw you on the Weather Channel. Great project, which I will gladly join you in. I am 71, remember when we had no paper towels, plastic jars, etc. I garden, small patch in small back yard, make cortains from old tablecloths found at yard sales, can and freeze. You are inspirational. (Did you know that ‘permanent press’ gets that way by being sprayed or dipped in some kind of petroleum derivative? More hidden petroleum.)
Gail

Hi Fhawks27055 – Do some online research on where to buy milk in glass bottles. I live in a rather rural area and initially had the same issue with the local grocery stores. However, after a little research I found a smaller store that carried milk in returnable glass bottles along with orange juice.

Hi Fhawks27055 – Do some online research on where to buy milk in glass bottles. I live in a rather rural area and initially had the same issue with the local grocery stores. However, after a little research I found a smaller store that carried milk in returnable glass bottles along with orange juice.