Green Options » water shortage

India’s Water Problems Increasing

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:53:30 +0000

A new study this month is showing a lot of concern for Indians, and all of us who rely on products from India.

How Food Choices Affect Your Water Footprint

John Chappell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:08:58 +0000

Eco-conscious and green consumers around the globe are increasingly aware of the carbon footprint of their food choices, but what about the water footprint?

As water becomes an increasingly scarce global resource, the focus turns toward analyzing how much water it takes to grow particular foods. Increasing awareness of the amount of water various foods require can help consumers make educated choices for the most environmentally conscious products.

Not surprisingly many of the same attributes that make for smart environmentally friendly choices also make sense from a water consumption perspective. Not eating meat, choosing locally grown organic foods, and growing as much produce as possible in your own backyard are also the best choices for using the least amount of water.

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Green Talk Radio: Blue Gold: World Water Wars (part 2)

Sean Daily — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:00:29 +0000

Conclusion of GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily’s conversation with American independent filmmaker Sam Bozzo of Purple Turtle Films about his new award-winning documentary on the global water crisis, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars”.

[Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]

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Green Talk Radio: Blue Gold: World Water Wars (Part 1)

Sean Daily — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:00:05 +0000

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with American indy filmmaker Sam Bozzo of Purple Turtle Films about his new award-winning documentary on the global water crisis, “Blue Gold: World Water Wars”.

[Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]

Click Play Below,or

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Water Wise Gardening

Megan Prusynski — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:00:21 +0000

With the economy on the downturn, more and more people are starting gardens to help ease grocery bills. Growing one’s own food is a step towards living sustainably, so this is great news. However, more gardens mean more water use, and 40% of water used during the summer is used outdoors. So, as you plan your garden this spring, be sure to keep water in mind and take measures to reduce water usage.

Reducing water usage in an organic garden not only conserves our most precious resource, it also lowers costs and in many cases, benefits the plants as well. By paying attention to how your garden is watered, you can be sure to give plants just the amount of water they need to thrive without overdoing it. Many of the water saving methods mentioned below also benefit the soil and enrich your garden in other ways. Water should be a key part of your garden planning from day one. Read on for ways to garden sustainably and save water.

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Water Cut Off to 5 Million People in Mexico City

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:35:03 +0000

Water to 5 million of Mexico city’s residents will be cut off for 36 hours over Easter weekend due to record low water reserves.

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What Defines a Drought?

Becky Striepe — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:00:20 +0000

It’s been stormy here in Atlanta. We’ve had a wet winter and rainy early spring. In a drought-stricken region like this, you tend to hear variations on the same joke every time it rains: “Well, I guess that pesky drought is over!”

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With all the rain this week, some folks have once again been saying we’re out of the drought. Only this time, it was no joke.

Georgia’s state climatologist, David Stooksbury, declared the drought over this week. All of the good rain we’ve had lately has apparently pulled North Georgia out of its water shortage with the exception of Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell basins. So as long as you don’t count the two lakes where we get a large part of the region’s water, the drought is over!

Wait, what?

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Botswana OK’s Diamond Mine Under Condition That Locals Get No Water

Melissa Elliott — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:24 +0000

Mining company Gem Diamonds has gained approval from the Botswana government for a controversial diamond mine on the land of the Kalahari Bushmen, under the condition it does not provide the Bushmen with water. The government has, however, reserved the right to use water boreholes drilled by Gem for wildlife.

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Jeff Korhan, Green Industry Speaker, Relates Today’s Green Trend to the PC Revolution of the 80s

Brenda Keener — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:03:37 +0000

Video blogger Jeff Korhan, in his “Black Friday” video blog, had an interesting perspective on the new green trends. It is hard to remember when PCs were “new and different”, but Jeff reminds us of when people didn’t quite trust them yet, and still used a typewriter when it absolutely had to be done right.

Likewise, the masses see the greening of America, but don’t yet trust that this is a trend here to stay. According to Korhan, there are two things that can happen that could give our current green trend a huge push forward. One is a serious event, such as a severe water shortage or other environmental disaster. The other is for all of us dedicated to the preservation of the earth to join together and form a grassroots effort to educate others.

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Yes, there IS hope for your SUV driving, energy wasting neighbor!

Water as a Socially Responsible Investment Vehicle

Brenda Keener — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:13:15 +0000

A fundamental necessity for ALL life forms on earth is clean, potable water. Yet sustainable sources of fresh water are in limited supply, particularly in poorer areas of the world. Water is the ONLY resource that is not replaceable with another - oil can be made obsolete through the use of new, renewable energy sources, food sources can be substituted one for another, but pure water has no equal.

According to the United Nations, two thirds of all nations will be water stressed in the near future, and nearly 1.8 billion people suffer from water scarcity. Alhough the earth is mostly water, only about 3% of it is fresh. Investing in the creation of new technologies that can create fresh water from other sources, such as fog and sea water is not only socially responsible, it is potentially very lucrative as well. Other areas where extensive research efforts are focused include new, sustainable ways of managing the existing water supplies without degradation of the local ecosystems, water conservation methods, and new methods for water transportation and delivery.

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Is Blue The New Green?

mcmilker — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:37:45 +0000

I’ve been reading a number of articles recently about how blue is the new green. I’ve always understood it to mean that yes, we are focused on sustainability (denoted by the word “green”) but we should also be concerned because a water shortage is looming – water, of course being blue.

But John Rooks, of the Soap Group, has another take on it in his article in Environmental Standard, Sustainability is Not a Color - Sustainability is Transparent.

Some nouveau-environmentalist and entrepreneurial ad agencies are trying to re-brand (a move akin to dogs marking territory) the environmental movement as “blue.” “Blue is the new Green,” they say. One argument goes that “the earth is mostly water, the sky is mostly blue,” so Blue is the best natural color of a deeper level of business-driven environmental movement. Some even claim this shift to be one of the greatest marketing trends of the coming year.

Surely there is a need to consider using other colors besides green to brand an eco business, over 300,000 green trademarks were filed with the U.S. patent office in 2007, but do you think we’ll see a rush to blue

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Heather Mills Using a Pool-Full of Water

Kelly Dunleavy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:28:03 +0000

The ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartney, Heather Mills, continues to fight with local authorities over a pool she built without permission.

In a time of water shortage for many parts of the world, the 40 ft x 22 ft pool — built on top of a former vegetable garden — is stirring up controversy in Mills’ English country home.

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Atlanta’s Drought: Worse Than Ever

Becky Striepe — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:00:19 +0000

[Image credit: Brian Hursey at Flickr under a Creative Commons license]

Something amazing happened here in Atlanta on Friday night: it rained. I’m not sure I can remember the last time that happened - maybe late last month? The winter months are some of the driest here in northern Georgia, and our drought situation may not be getting much news coverage, but it’s far from over.

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Book Review: Dry Spring - The Coming Water Crisis of North America

Tom Schueneman — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:11:55 +0000

From the back cover of “Dry Spring”:

As it warms, our world is running out of fresh water - fast. Lakes, aquifers and rivers are disappearing, but we consume more water than ever. What will this mean for North America?

Veteran author and Canadian journalist Chris Wood has had a varied career contributing to national and regional publication including the CBC, Global and Mail, The Tyee, The Walrus, and many others. Chris is also co-author of the bookBlockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World.

In an interview with Wood last month, I asked how he came to write his latest book Dry Spring. He told me that throughout his writing career his focus has been, as he put it, “People and societies in their place”. This interest, combined with his acute awareness of the pressing environmental issues facing society, led him his work on the world’s fresh water supply, most particularly that of North America.

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Scientists Turn Water into Wine (Even in a Drought)

Courtney Carlisle — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:05:46 +0000

Their science is impressive, but their timing is dead on. It doesn’t quite seem fair that California has been blessed with the perfect growing climate for some of the world’s best agriculture (and of course, wine) but saddled with a water shortage.

To help the Napa winemakers and wineries worldwide oversee their crop irrigation and management, Sebastian Payen and Thibaut Scholasch, of Fruition Sciences have turned the science of hydration monitoring into an art. The business partners’ techniques come from the marriage of research and technology that they have developed over more than seven years working at prestigious universities and with premier vineyards.

Using a proprietary technology, Fruition Sciences is able to monitor real time viticulture information and deliver the statistics via a web-based application to the winemakers instantly. The ability to monitor the vineyard status in real time allows vintners to make decisions about irrigation and canopy management that can have immediate repercussions as well as a long term effect on the crop.

The team is currently working with winemakers around the world in California, France and Spain to monitor vine conditions. Implementing this technology at some of the large producers worldwide could have an interesting impact on water usage and vine care and maintenance by leaving a little less up to chance and putting a little faith in technology.

Could Wind help Save Water?

Michelle Bennett — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:00:08 +0000

Big news for the wind industry, big implications for water.

First, the Department of Energy released a report that confirmed what the wind industry has already claimed: wind could power 20% of the United State’s energy needs by 2030. Even with growing energy demands, our ample wind resources could meet one-fifth of our needs with continued growth and innovation. Other nations, especially Denmark, are already deriving significant fractions of their energy from wind, sometimes with impressive results. The truth is, wind energy is booming even as the specter of the expiring Production Tax Credit moves to the House of Representatives for a vote.

Another large announcement this week came from ex-oilman T. Boone Pickens, who proved (once again) that every thing’s bigger in Texas.

He just ordered $2 billion worth of wind turbines from GE to build the world’s largest wind farm.

Water Shortage Could Dry Up Nuclear Power Plants in Southeast

Max Lindberg — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:51:30 +0000

We’ve all read about the drought in America’s Southeast, and if it doesn’t let up very quickly, some nuclear power stations may have to either cut back operations or shut down temporarily because of a lack of water.

An Alabama reactor had to shutdown for a brief period in the summer, and officials in the Southeast now say it is becoming a crisis.

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