The Blue Planet Project

As you can see from my last post, I'm thinking about water lately. I started thinking about it again this morning as the dishwasher and washing machine hummed away. Then, my husband went upstairs for a shower. And none of this is acutally water we drink.

I was living in Kincardine at the time of the Walkerton Water Crisis. That was a dramatic reminder of how precious safe drinking water is to society. I had returned from Nepal the year before, a place where you can't open your mouth in the shower without suffering unspeakable gastro-intestinal issues. Suddenly, the drinking water in our little rural area was deadly all because of carelessness, pollution, and privatisation of water testing.

Recently, I found this interesting (and somewhat frightening) website. The Blue Planet Project is a Canadian-based global initiative to secure access to water as the fundamental human right it is declared to be. It works to protect the world's fresh water from privitisation.

www.blueplanetproject.com

Just received the coolest questions from my three-year old:

Where does water come from?

Something to think about.

Natural Family Column

I am delighted to be publishing a regular column in Natural Life Magazine called "Natural Family." My article about breast cancer will appear in the upcoming winter issue. The magazine is a Canadian bi-monthly publication covering issues such as the environment, natural parenting, and life learning.

Here's the link:

http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/

Sad Suction

Okay, enough's enough. We've had this vacuum for almost a decade and it has failed us from the start. It's never really worked properly. Mike has fixed it many times and we've taken it to the repair shop on several occasions. I think it just doesn't work anymore.

At the same time, I've been to landfill sites enough times to be able to picture it just lying in a pile of garbage. I think that's why I'm such a pack-rat. I don't keep it for me. I just can't picture this stuff outside in the dump. So much plastic...

How many times do we fix something that just won't work properly? Why can't appliances last longer...like they did in the previous generation? Now, things are designed to break and we go back to buy more, often from the same company.

I've never been particularly hard on this vaccuum. We don't even have carpet. Now, it sounds like a jet taking off--with rocks grinding in the engine. And the suction is sad. The other day it passed over the same piece of lint over and over without picking it up. Honestly...

So, do I pay to fix this AGAIN or do we chuck it? Maybe someone will take it for parts. Who knows? All I know is that a vacuum that isn't even used on carpet should last longer than ten years.

www.thestoryofstuff.com