We celebrate this year’s World Water Day in the wake of the devastating Cyclone Idai, one of the worst tropical cyclones to hit Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. It has affected millions in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
This year’s theme for World Water Day ‘Leaving no one behind’ is emphasized by this destructive tropical storm, which reminds us that that the poor and marginalized populations are the most affected.
Sadly, global warming is an undeniable truth, and although it may seem that there is nothing, we can do to stop it, there is work for us all to do, especially with regards to water.
It is time to act now and change the way we use this precious resource.
This week, Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency in the United Kingdom, warned that England could run short of water within 25 years. During his speech, he mentioned that there is a need for more desalination plants and larger reservoirs, but he also emphasized that people in England need to stop wasting water in their daily lives.
He listed a few things that can dramatically impact our water use and even cut it by 40 litres per day, including:
- Get a low-flush toilet
- Take shorter showers
- Buy a water-efficient washing machine
- Fill up your dishwasher before using it
- Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth
- Don’t water your lawn
These small actions must not only be directed at the English population, but to everyone around the world. It is all very well to say that governments and companies need to do more to save this precious resource, but are we doing all that is in our power to save water in our day to day?
