Clean Water Action
I grew up on a farm in Swaziland, Africa. The water for our home came from an underground spring. When my family first moved to the farm there was no running water, no electricity and a party line telephone system. Sounds quaint and 'Out of Africa', but in reality everything was just so much more difficult to do and took much longer. Workers went to the spring daily with large milk cans on their heads and carried the water to a cistern which fed the house its daily ration. After a time my father bought a generator which allowed him to install a pump at the spring to supply the house, making life a lot easier for everyone.
My brothers and I would go to the spring and play fantasy children's games. We had strict instructions not to put our dirty feet in the spring, never mind swim in it, which was always tempting especially on hot summer days. My father drummed into us how important it was that the water in the spring was not to be disturbed in any way, that the spring was to be kept pure and clean. Decades later that spring still feeds the farm and the dozens of people and animals who rely on the pure clean water.
At that time, and more so now, many people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Many are afflicted by preventable diseases simply because of this. "When the word water appears in print these days, crisis is rarely far behind. Water, it is said, is the new oil: a resource long squandered, now growing expensive and soon to be overwhelmed by insatiable demand." Not less so even in America. "Nearly two-fifths of the United States' 25,000 sewer systems illegally discharged raw sewage or other nasty stuff into rivers or lakes in 2007-09, and over 40% of the country's waters are considered dangerously polluted. Contaminated water lays low almost 20m Americans a year."
As evidenced by the massive garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean and the 40m plus plastic bottles disposed of in the United States every day, water contamination is reaching a critical point. Bottled water is a perverse reality that affects us all. Not only has it been proven to be no more clean and safe than tap water, the costs associated with production and distribution burden it with a massive carbon footprint, thereby "making it one of the least green and least defensible rip-offs on the market."
About seven years ago I was sitting on my porch. A canvasser from Clean Water Action stopped to chat and hopefully gain my support. Needless to say I have supported Clean Water Action since then in my personal capacity. Sometime in early Spring of 2010 I received a request from a Clean Water Action volunteer to call Governor Patrick of Massachusetts and ask him to sign a bill banning the use of BPA in Baby products. Naturally I did so. This led me to approach Clean Water Action's Jon Scott (Director of Corporate Relations and Legacy Gifts) with a proposal of donating 15% of sales from my website Blugirlart.com to Clean Water Action. In light of what has transpired in the Gulf since then, this is a most timely action. I hope you will support Clean Water Action and Blugirlart with your purchase.
I have added photography by Dan Minicucci, a renowned nature photographer, to my website. All the images invoke water in all its forms, or the lack thereof, to highlight this joint effort.
All quotes come from The Economists' May 22ND-28TH 2010 edition. Specifically from that editions' special report on water.
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15% of sales from Blugirlart.com support Clean Water Action
