Reflection: Week 7 & 8

Reflections: Week 7 & 8

Week 7:

• This week started with an eye opener, titled Environmental Working Group.For my facial product, I chose Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. I found out that there not many concerns that is product is linked to, but that there are concerns about it that were not listed in the activity. I went further into research, and found what Vaseline had to say about their animal testing and did a little more looking around on Vaseline's website.
  

• We also watched a documentary titled "Green". It is a documentary created by a grad student, and is about the controversies along "Cancer Alley" which is a 100 mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All of the large corporations in this area are polluting the air, land and soil that many poor individuals and families find themselves having to live on, and try to raise healthy children. One fact that stood out to me about this that in some areas, the soil was contaminated 17 FEET under people's houses! This was causing many diseases and other health concerns to the people living in that area, and growing gardens for their families food supply. Worse of all, the people working at these companies believe they're doing their part at home because they have flower gardens and are providing a place for birds and other wildlife to retreat to.

Week 8:

• This week I was assigned the article review titled "Privatizating Water". Basically, this is an article that highlights the advantages and disadvantages of privatizing water. It also goes into detail some of the controversies certain areas of the country are facing, and clearly depicts a riot that broke out in the city of Chochabamba which is located in Bolivia. This reading was interesting to me because it stated that currently, there at 36 countries that have very minimal water supply and are using many different methods to preserve and catch their rain water. I was even more surprised when it continued to say that within the next 6 year, SEVEN more counties are going to join the rankings of having the least amount of drinkable water for their citizens. Something is wrong here...

• We also watched the documentary titled "Thirst" this week. Thirst is a documentary that depicts the real life issues, in our own country and throughout the rest of the world, about water privatization. It makes the watcher debate the question of "Is water a human right or a commodity to be bought and sold in a global marketplace?". When looking on the Thirst documentary website, I was shocked to read that "over a billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Each year, millions of children die of diseases caused by unsafe water. The numbers are increasing." How can we fix this? How can the diseases and deaths numbers be reduced? Since the Thirst documentary has been released, there continues to be conflict and disputes, only they are now more intense.

Share & Voice: Spring Break

This year for spring break I am going to Atlanta and Jekyll Island, Georgia as well as Chicago, Illinois. I am driving down with my teammates from the ultimate frisbee team and we will be spending our time basking in the sun, playing a little ultimate (THREE days worth!) and camping for a week :)

This is a challenge... I want to know what each of you are doing over your break! Only don't just tell us what you did... post a picture and a short description of whatever you are doing, place you visit or people you spent your time with and I will do the same! :) It doesn't have to be something "environmental", just post ANY picture from your week off from school and show us what you had done :)

Hope you all have an amazing and safe spring break! :)

Review of Reading 31: Privatizing Water

On April 8, 2000 a riot broke out in a city called Cochabamba located in Bolivia. The riot had killed one 17 year old boy while hundreds of other protesters were injured. What was the riot over? Privatization of the countries water. The World Bank had threaten to withhold $600 million in the countries debt relief if they did not privatize their water. Because the privatization of water had not happened, water bills in the average house hold rose 35% per month. Protesters were able to declare victory. The city ended up privatizing their water, resulting in an end to the riot.


In 1992, when world leaders at the Rio earth Summit recognized water as an "economic good", they were mainly acknowledging the failure of their government to provide clean drinking water to over 1.1 billion people. The government saw this as an opportunity to collect profits, even though water should be considered a human right.


Currently, there are 36 countries (which are all in Africa, Asia or the middle east) that do not have a large enough water supply to meet the needs for industrial, municipal, and food production purposes. By the year 2015, seven more countries will join these rankings. See something wrong here?


In the United States, we have been rather slow in privatizing our water systems and if we were to privatize more of our water, our country would have the chance to attract the" private capital and expertise needed to build and expand expensive water system, and help connect the millions who currently make do without piped water". Could you imagine NOT drinking water from a pipe, and pulling it up from the ground yourself, from a well or some other way?! Small and poor communities are continuously drinking from questionable water resources and expensive suppliers. Poor residents in El Alto, Bolivia are drinking water from tanker trucks, which is MORE EXPENSIVE than the piped water wealthier residents are drinking from!


Many countries, people believe that water should be delivered at a low cost, or for free. Do you agree with this? As cities grow and expand, it is much more difficult to raise money to maintain or expand current water systems.


"Privatization of water has resulted in drastic rate increases, significant job cuts, fewer environmental safeguards, dropped conservation initiatives and halted service to poor or remote communities".


The gist of it, privatizing water does not benefit anyone but the supplier. If water is privatized, there are less employees working in a company which results in a larger profit for them and in return the population receives less than par service, little to no water depending on the salary of a household, higher water bills and a loss of local control and accountability.


My thoughts: There should not be counties in this nation that are going without water. Can you imagine how horrible you would feel not being hydrated?! Imagine living in a country like Africa or somewhere in the Middle east where temperatures are not comfortable and not being able to have a refreshing glass of water to cool down... I have lived out in the country before, and the water we had gotten in our house then came from a well. Still, it was running water, through piper, and had been fortified with vitamins. I could not imagine having to fetch my own water, or drink water from Lake Superior without it being filtered and okay to drink. No one should have to drink from a sketchy water resource! Although I believe that water is difficult to maneuver from place to place, it should not be so expensive since it is something we, as humans, need to survive! I understand that it is expensive for water treatment plants to run and expand, but shouldn't the health and hydration of all people be a priority?! Personally, I think other countries are in more need than we are. To have 35 countries running low on water and seven more about to join those rankings by 2015 is devastating. What do you think we can do to help?!


Terms:
World Bank- committed to reaching the poor with a sanitary water supply

International Monetary Fund - Temporarily finances countries