Today, I am writing about “WhatIf YOUR World Had No Clean Water?”, another post in the goldinwords blog by
Benjamin Anyan. I am writing more about the idea
than about the content. TAPthirst has played a huge part in my life,
in many ways. TAPthirst, or Tapdrinkers
Against Privatization, is a student group at Concordia working at bringing
awareness of water issues to the local community, particularly in terms of
privatization of water. In fact, it was
through TAPthirst, and with the help of other groups and volunteers, that the
decision to phase out bottled water was finally made at Concordia. Much can be said, but I can
discuss that at another time. Through my
work with TAPthirst, I learned so much about water and still have a ton to
learn. When I went to Ghana the first
time, I couldn’t help but look at the water all around me and the need for pure
water instead of tap water (what I was accustomed to drinking) and wonder how
could this be fixed. This is where I saw
the connection between water and refuse, particularly in Ghana.
In Canada, we are lucky enough
to have safe drinking water coming right out of our taps; water that our taxes
fund the purifying of. In the parts of
Ghana I have been to, we may not always be able to rely on tap water, however we can
find pure water for a minimal price, as compared to the bottles. The thing is, not everyone on the planet has
those two options and of those that do, not all of them can afford to pay ten
pesewas (five Canadian cents) for 500 mL of water. In that case, they may use water that has
been contaminated in various ways, causing various health problems. If you are reading this, chances are you can
afford drinkable water. If you are spending your
water money on the internet, then please stop reading and use the rest of your
money to hydrate yourself!! Now, if you
are still reading and have clean drinking water available to you
somewhere, can you imagine not having
clean drinking water? This means no
clean water to cook your food, wash your clothes, bathe, or anything. I remember the opening scene of one
documentary, I think it was Blue Gold, described dehydration so well that I
felt myself reaching for my water and nearly emptying the bottle, despite initially being fully hydrated. I don’t know what I will
do when I have no drinking water available, but I am sure I will do anything
for it. What do you expect you will do?
Now, like I said, water and
refuse are tightly connected in Ghana. I
am sure you can imagine why, but I will tell you anyways. When we consume more than is needed,
particularly of consumables that cannot be used again or that cannot decompose,
these consumables are tossed aside. They
may end up in municipal landfills or they may end up in private landfills (see the background picture of this blog). In such places as Ghana, they may be tossed
without a thought as soon as use is complete.
The heavier they are, the more chances they will remain where they are
and be moved around by humans or other animals.
The lighter they are, the more chances the wind will catch hold of them,
often bringing them to our waterways (unless we threw them in the waterway in
the first place). Over time, the refuse
builds up in our waterways and you end up with polluted, undrinkable water that
is a breeding ground for disease, such as cholera, typhoid fever, yellow fever,
the mosquitos that carry malaria, etc.
This is something that could have been prevented, yet we have intensified
it. The worst part is that instead of
looking at the problem and solving it from the root, we are fixing the leaves,
hoping that the branches will follow, then the trunk and then the roots. It doesn’t work that way and too many of us
are sadly blind to this.
This week’s quote is a
well-known one, allegedly from Fort Minor:
I guess one man's trash is the
next man's treasure, one man's pain is the next man's pleasure.
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