Live Earth blogs

Twestival 2010

jgeeslin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:53:11 +0000

On Thursday March 25th 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around important education causes by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival uses social media for social good! All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to the projects. This year the focus is education.

Click here for more information and to register your city.

Twestival is also hosting a charity auction to raise even more money, and Live Earth is proud to be a part of it! You can bid on entry fees to one of the Live Earth Run for Water events around the world.

Click here to check out the Twestival charity auction and bid on some cool stuff!

Salvation Army - Swedish NGO Partner

jgeeslin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:12:56 +0000

The Salvation Army is one of our NGO partners in Sweden and is helping us to fight the global water crisis.

The Salvation Army is an integral part of the Christian Church, although distinctive in government and practice. The Army's doctrine follows the mainstream of Christian belief and its articles of faith emphasize God’s saving purposes. Its objects are ‘the advancement of the Christian religion... of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole.

The movement, founded in 1865 by William Booth, has spread from London, England, to 119 countries of the world in 2010. Raised to evangelize, the Army spontaneously embarked on schemes for the social betterment of the poor. Such concerns have since developed, wherever the Army operates, in practical, skilled and cost-effective ways. Evolving social services meet endemic needs and specific crises worldwide.

Click here for more info on the Salvation Army in Sweden.

Celebrate World Water Day!

jgeeslin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:29:19 +0000

World Water Day is on Monday, March 22nd, and it's a crucial moment in the fight against the global sanitation and water crisis that’s killing thousands of people every single day. No matter where you are in the world you can celebrate World Water Day! Check out some of the ways below:

The World’s Longest Toilet Queue is a mass mobilization event and Guinness World Record attempt bringing together thousands of campaigners from across the world to demand real change.

Join in by organizing or joining a queue of people to demand action from the world’s governments! You’ll find everything you need to get involved – ideas, resources and advice – in this site. So go ahead and make a stand for sanitation and water!

Click here for more info and to join the queue.

Walking for Water is a school-based program to raise awareness around World Water Day. Participating students are sponsored by friends and family and commit to walking 6 kilometers (3.73 miles), carrying 6 liters (1.59 gallons) of water in backpacks to raise funds to finance water projects in developing countries that need it most.

In preparation for the walk, teachers and guest lecturers educate the children about the importance of clean water and adequate sanitation in developing countries. Developed in the Netherlands, Walking for Water is a fundraising and awareness concept created by Aqua for All. Students collect funds in person and through online fundraising tools.

Click here for more info. Click here to register your school for Walking for Water.

Night of Generosity - If you are in LA, come celebrate with a Night of Generosity at SKYBAR on March 22nd at 8pm

Generosity Water is putting on this amazing event with the help of host Jason Kennedy (E!), Chyler Leigh (Grey's Anatomy) as the event chair, and American Idol's Elliott Yamin and Samantha Mollen will be performing. All proceeds will benefit Generosity Water and fund clean water projects in developing nations.

Click here for more info.

Live Earth’s NGO partners are organizing many of the events taking place on World Water Day around the world, from UNEP’s World Water Day Water Day Conference in Nairobi, to more than 600 Dutch schools holding Walking for Water events in partnership with Aqua for All. Akvo will organize a major event in Amsterdam to showcase the latest Dutch efforts to tackle the water crisis. Pump Aid and End Water Poverty in the UK are leading the charge to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest toilet queue to raise understanding of the lack of poor sanitation across the world. The GLOBE Program created a week-long global World Water Day Event during which schools will be investigating local water quality and using the research to participate in direct action that will improve water resources in their area. Arche noVa in Germany will work with artist Herman Josef Hack and student artists to inspire discussion about the human right to water. Global Water Challenge, National Geographic, Alexandra Cousteau and her Blue Legacy organization, and other U.S. partners are holding events in Washington, DC to call for stronger commitments and more robust action to ensure universal access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation, including participation by Senator Clinton and advocacy with members of Congress.

MORE! Want to find a list of the global events you can be a part of? Click here.

Click here for more info on World Water Day (click here for the U.S. Water Day site).

Invite your Facebook Friends to Help Solve the Global Water Crisis

Andy Sternberg — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:48:11 +0000

In the months leading up to the April 18th Live Earth Run for Water one thing has become obvious. The entire world is in love with Facebook. In addition to keeping up with friends and loved ones, Facebook is a virtual land of possibility and a hopeful one at that. We hope that you're already a Live Earth fan (if not, just click below). The Run for Water is only one month away, and you can help make a difference just by becoming a fan and spreading the word via Facebook and your other favorite social networks.

For those of us lucky to have good internet access, the world can feel like a small, manageable place. But more than 800 MILLION people are struggling every day without access to clean, safe drinking water. That's one in eight people worldwide.

So whether you'll be with us on April 18th to run or walk a 6K, we can all participate online. Become a fan of one or all of the Live Earth Run for Water fan pages below and be sure to RSVP for your local event to help solve the global water crisis. And click here to give directly to the cause.

Below links will open in a new tab or window.

Live Earth Run for Water London

Run for Water Berlin

Run for Water Brasil

Run for Water Buenos Aires

Copenhagen Run for Water

Run for Water Lisbon

Live Earth Run for Water Singapore

Dow Live Earth Run for Water Bali

Run for Water LA

Run for Water Mexico City

Run for Water Minneapolis

Run for Water NY

Run for Water Stockholm

Live Earth Amsterdam

Run for Water Peru

Live Earth Run for Water Oklahoma City

Wir laufen für Wasser - Jeder kann mitmachen

Dow Live Earth Run for Water Midland

Dow Live Earth Run for Water Orlando

Run for Water Massachusetts

Dow Live Earth Run for Water Tarragona

Live Earth Run for Water Quebec

Not on Facebook? We want to be part of your favorite online communities and social networks too so let us know... let's connect!

RarePlanet Educates, Crowdsources Green Online Best Practices

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:59:43 +0000

I was recently joined RarePlanet's advisory board after hearing about their cool vision. The concept puts environmental campaign managers into a social network where they share and learn best practices in online community management. It's a two year program, and if successful, community managers earn a communications masters degree from the University of Texas - El Paso.

The range of topics is pretty diverse, from more sustainable agriculture and better management of a protected areas to water conservation and even a 350 group. Though it's early in the life of RarePlanet, the effort already has 1000 community members.

What I really like about RarePlanet is its focus on extended community of community managers, academics, super engaged conservationists and other hyper engaged people in the green movement. The long term vision is to create a place where campaigns can be dynamically crowdsourced by those who actually have experience doing them. It reminds me a lot of mastermind groups, where executives meet with other executives to drive their business forward.

Each campaign has a description, a theory of change, and a symbol of pride, which allows community members to share the concepts. Additionally, RarePlanet community users to share various campaigns with select social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Delicious.

It will be exciting to see if RarePlanet can become a leading source for collaborative green communications strategy and learning. I hope you will join us there, too.

Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.

Hydraulic Rams - Making Water Run Uphill

Mark Tiele Westra — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:41:29 +0000

Ever seen water flow uphill? Without help of petrol or electricity? Meet the hydraulic ram, a robust and simple water-powered water pump. The ram pumps uses the power of water with a height difference flowing in the spring, stream or river to lift a fraction of the water up to 200 meters vertically, and sometimes pump it over a kilometre or two to where it is needed. No fuel or electricity required. The ram pump holds great potential for rural drinking water and irrigation water supply in hilly and mountainous areas, such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Nepal, and the Philippines.

Photo above: Children surrounding a hydraulic ram produced by AIDFI on the island Negros, the Philippines.

Hydraulic rams in the Philippines

Many people living in hillside villages in the Philippines do not have easy access to fresh water, and have to make a difficult journey down steep slopes to collect what they require for their basic needs from springs, valley streams or rivers. The water is then carried back in jerry cans on a shoulder yoke. This is dangerous and time-consuming, and means that water is often used only for essential purposes like drinking and cooking, with little spare for hygiene, sanitation or agriculture.

Carrying water uphill, using a yoke, is heavy work.

The local NGO Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (AIDFI), led by Dutch-born engineer Auke Idzenga, has developed an innovative hydraulic ram pump which can be made locally. It has just two sets of spare parts, both of which are simple and available locally - door hinges and check valves made from used car tires. After some training, the pump can be maintained at community level. In the last ten years, AIDFI
has installed 195 of these ram pumps in 128 communities, providing over 38,400 people with access to clean water as well as irrigating large areas of land.

The success didn't go unnoticed. In 2007, the AIDFI hydraulic ram pump won the prestigious Ashden Award (presented by Al Gore and Prince Charles), and in 2008 the pump was chosen as one of three nominees out of 800 projects for the European Energy Globe Award.

Having ample water in the village means that washing can be done close to the home, saving a lot of time.

Benefits to users

Access to water changes lives. Communities in the Philippines go from hardly enough water to drink and cook, to an ample supply of water — 200 to 1000 liters /day, per household. As one villager put it: "We used to be so dirty at the end of the day... now we're all clean." Women save significant amounts of time not only by avoiding the trip to collect water, but also because clothes can now be washed in the village, instead of down at the stream. Time saved is now being used to care for children and livestock, and tend vegetable gardens.

Sufficient water for irrigation means that vegetable crops can be grown in the dry season and people can keep pigs and poultry and even fish ponds. Willy Granada, chairman of the Tara Small Farmers Co-op comments: "Look at all my tomatoes! They'd never be here without the pump. And some people have poultry now and they have pigs too. There are so many things you can do if you have water."

Central to the success of AIDFI's project has been the involvement of the community in the whole process from installation to on-going maintenance of the ram pumps. This has helped avoid the pitfalls that other ram pump projects encountered which meant that ultimately they were not sustainable.

You can support this Live Earth project, which will install hydraulic rams in villages in the Philippines

Spreading the word

There is a tremendous need for this kind of technology in many parts of the world. Both AIDFI's approach and the pump design itself, with durable permanent parts and low-cost, easily obtained replacement parts, is ideal for replication, and AIDFI has taken care to document information well, so that other people can understand. AIDFI actively looks for organisations who want to learn how to make the technology, and now provides trainings to people from several countries. AIDFI has already transferred the technology to Afghanistan. Impressive, methinks.

Author: Mark Tiele Westra, Editor Akvopedia.

Links:

Celebrate a Night of Generosity

jgeeslin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:57:06 +0000

If you are in the Los Angeles area, come celebrate World Water Day with a Night of Generosity at SKYBAR on March 22nd at 8pm.

They will be showcasing stunning visual art displays from their work in Africa, serving complimentary cocktails and food, and throwing a glamorous fashion show sponsored by The Couture House.

This special night will include music by Quddus and the release of The Generosity Water Charity Album featuring Queen Latifah, Darlene Zschech, and Jonathan Butler.

All proceeds will benefit Generosity Water and fund clean water projects in developing nations.

Tickets can be bought online here.

March 15th – 28th: Define Our Decade Weeks of Action and National Youth Vote

jgeeslin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:12:19 +0000

On March 15th through the 28th, kicks off two weeks of action where young people in communities across the country will be discussing how they want to Define Our Decade with clean renewable energy. Seventy events have been registered across the country so that we can envision Our Decade with community discussions, outreach, and action!

Click here to register an event in your area so that your local friends and colleagues can vote and be apart of Defining Our Decade!

At each of these events, local communities will work on creating their local visions, and help as a movement determine how to move forward. As part of the weeks of action, they will have a national vote to determine how much clean electricity we want and think we can collectively achieve in the next ten years, and be defining "clean" energy on our own terms.

At Michigan State University, students are working out how to move their campus beyond coal in the next ten years, and in San Antonio, the Southwest Workers Union will be building their People's Power campaign to bring safe and clean energy opportunities to their community. There is a ton of great ideas and work happening in the grassroots, make sure yours is apart of Defining Our Decade.

How will you Define Our Decade? Click here for more info.

Endangered Species Day Art

jgeeslin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Teaching children about wildlife at a young age is very important! And to celebrate the upcoming Endangered Species Day on May 21st, the Endangered Species Coalition is holding an art day contest to give students the change to show off their artistic ability, along with their knowledge of the threatened species.

The nationwide Endangered Species Day Art contest provides students with an opportunity to learn about endangered species and express their knowledge and support through artwork. The contest is organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Coalition, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art / University of New Orleans.

Endangered Species Day is a celebration of our nation’s wildlife and wild places. Started in 2006 by the United States Congress, Endangered Species Day is an opportunity to learn about endangered species. The art contest is an integral part of the fifth annual national Endangered Species Day, May 21, 2010. The contest’s winner will be honored with their name engraved on a special trophy designed by a gifted young artist, Meredith Graf of New Orleans, LA and will also be recognized at a reception in Washington, D.C. in May, 2010.

Artwork should highlight one or more land- and/or ocean-dwelling endangered species—mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, fish, plant, and/or invertebrate (e.g., insect, spider, snail, coral, crustacean or clam)—found in the United States. Entrants are encouraged to depict species that are found in their region. Entrants may wish to choose from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Spotlight Species.

Winners are chosen in four grade categories (K-2; 3-6; 7-9; and 10-12).

The deadline to enter is March 26, so encourage your communities' schools to get involved!

Click here for all the details and for contest rules.

Make it a Water Recession

Thomas M. Kostigen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:44:40 +0000

Water is big business. Just five beverage companies consume enough water over the course of a year to satisfy the daily water needs of every person on the planet. Of course, we may not be able to control how much water is put in a can of soda or a beer (less water, more alcohol, please) or the amount it takes to make paper, but we can control our own use at the workplace and even influence those who manage supplies.

It may not be our nickel that gets spent on the utility bill at work, but the gains are certainly ours when we reduce the corporate water footprint on the planet. Water prices are poised to rise due to increased water stress, and corporate growth is expected to be impeded as resources dwindle. Make no mistake, all of this comes out of our paychecks in one way or another.

Twenty percent of the worlds water supply goes to support industry. Thats twice as much as is used to support municipal supplies for our personal use. Sometimes we forget how many resources we use at the office itself. Many of us spend as much time at work as we do at home. Even if we aren't showering there, we can still use a lot of water throughout the day.

The average workday in the United States is 8.7 hours. We spend 1.1 hours a day drinking and eating, and up to 1.75 hours per week in the restroom (ladies spend just 1.4 hours). If we scale that back, per worker, by even a few cups per day on the front end and a few flushes on the back end, the savings would amount to more than 2 billion gallons of water. And that is about as much bottled water as Americans drink over the course of a whole year; profligate use, for sure.
Solutions abound in the workplace. Here are a few more for The Green Blue Book (www.thegreenbluebook.com):

Use a glass or a mug instead of a paper cup at the water bubbler when you drink and gossip about last nights reality TV show episode. It takes more than 6 gallons of water to make just one of those tiny 3-ounce cups.
How many times have you found that someone has left the faucet running in the restroom? Custodians report that it happens as often as 10 times per week. Thats 2 to 3 gallons wasted every minute. Im all for employees washing their hands before leaving the restroom, but they could turn off the faucets. Infrared sensors overpower mindlessness; these sensors can be adapted to any faucet and save as much as 70 percent of the water used in the typical hand washing.
Ordering too much food at the office just creates massive waste. The water it takes to grow and make food is exponentially more than the amount thats in the food when you eat it. Think about that the next time you are weighing your plate at the salad bar. Half of all the food purchased in the United States becomes garbage. Tossing out just a leftover piece of chicken can waste 115 gallons of water.

Thomas M. Kostigen is the author of The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water-Savings Guide to Everything in Your Life (Rodale) on bookshelves March 22d, World Water Day. For more information and to order a copy, go to www.thegreenbluebook.com. Photo via Pink Sherbet Photography (CC).

GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists to Headline Live Earth Run for Water Events

Andy Sternberg — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:37:12 +0000

MORE ARTISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON...

Los Angeles and Atlanta Talent Announced for April 18th

We are excited to announce that two-time GRAMMY Award-winner Melissa Etheridge, and multi-platinum three-time GRAMMY Award-winner Rob Thomas, will perform live at the April 18th Los Angeles and Atlanta events respectively. The largest worldwide water initiative on record to help combat the global water crisis, the Dow Live Earth Run for Water is a series of 6km run/walks (the average distance many women and children walk every day to get water), culminating with water education villages and live musical performances.

Click here for more info and click here to register.

Live Earth's Fundraise for Water Giveaway

Donate to Global Water Challenge or set up a fundraising page, and you might win a trip for you and a friend to the Dow Live Earth Run for Water on April 18th in NY or LA.

How can you enter?

Make a donation to Global Water Challenge between March 1st-April 8th 2010 at https://donate.globalwaterchallenge.org/page/contribute/liveearth1.
Donate any amount to Global Water Challenge and you're automatically entered.
$25 buys one classroom of children clean water for a year, keeping them healthy and in school.

Set up your own personal fundraising page between March 1st-April 8th 2010.
Set up a page to raise money from friends and family and you're automatically entered.
You will go through a process of entering your information and will have the opportunity to ask your friends and family to donate. Set a fundraising goal and bring clean water to children who need it.
$250 can provide a school with clean water for two years!

The winner will receive a trip for 2 including:

Round trip airfare to New York or Los Angeles. (whichever location is closest to you)
Admission to Dow Live Earth Run For Water event in NY or LA
2 nights hotel accommodations
Ground transportation in NY or LA
Carbon credits will be provided that offset the impact of your travel

You must be a resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and 18 years or older to enter.
You must make a donation or set up a fundraising page between March 1st- April 8th 2010 to be eligible to win!
The Winner will be notified on or around April 9, 2010. For full contest rules, click here: http://liveearth.org/rules. Good luck!

Click here to enter!

Join or Host one of Dozens of Friends of Live Earth Events on April 18th

If there are no major Live Earth events in your area then click here to register your own! Registering an event with Friends of Live Earth is a great way to involve your friends, family, school, or community in global, environmental action to help solve the global water crisis. After registering, you'll gain access to a package of background materials, event guidelines, and suggestions for how to host a green event.

One of the amazing Friends of Live Earth Run for Water events will take place in Tanzania, a country where the water crisis hits especially close to home. On April 18th, they will be having a 6km walk and a 15 kms run with the start and finish point from the New National Stadium which hosted the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This important event will feature live musical performances and water education activities in an effort to ignite a massive global movement to put an end to this epidemic.

Click here to read more about this event. Click here to register your own!

You can help solve the world water crisis by participating in the April 18, 2010 Dow Live Earth Run for Water.

Run/walk registration is now officially open for the following cities (click on city name to get to registration page):

NORTH AMERICA - San Diego, Los Angeles, Westlake Village, CA, Loma Linda, Mariposa, CA, Dinuba, CA, Seattle, Ellensburg, WA, Vancouver, Kelowna, BC, Kamloops, BC, Minneapolis, Houston, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Bristol, WI, Milwaukee, Canton, MI, Midland, MI, Toronto, Cincinnati, Louisville, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Bar Harbor, ME, Martha's Vineyard, Marlborough, MA, New York City, East Hampton, Norristown, PA, Washington, D.C., Rocky Mount, NC, Chapel Hill, Atlanta, Orlando, Mexico City
CENTRAL AMERICA / CARIBBEAN / SOUTH AMERICA - Panama City, Santo Domingo, Tortola, Bermuda, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay
UK / EUROPE - London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Berlin, Brienz, Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains, Tarragona, Milan, Arezzo, Sarajevo, Zagreb
MIDDLE EAST / ASIA / AUSTRALIA - Bodrum, , Mongolia, Karachi, Katmandu, New Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Bali, Chonqing, China, Hong Kong, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, Melbourne
AFRICA - Cape Town, Benin, Sierra Leone, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Uganda, Mauritius, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Botswana

If an event is not yet listed for a city near you, we invite you to host a Friends of Live Earth event, or check back at liveearth.org/run and sign up to find out when more cities are announced.

Thanks and be sure to visit us soon!

Follow Live Earth on:

Click here to invite your friends to Live Earth!

Please click here to subscribe to the Live Earth mailing list.

TrashTalk

Geoff Livingston — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:23:12 +0000

TrashTalk is a new initiative from the SENSEable City Lab and inspired by the NYC Green Initiative that's studying waste management. Specifically, the effort seeks to use technology to understand our removal chain as well our supply chain.

The effort uses hundreds of small, smart, location aware tags to examine how we get rid of waste. In the end, the minute details could provide great amounts of data that could yield a more sustainable future.

As we move forward, understanding waste will be a critical component of green life (image by Nevada Tumbleweed). A recent CauseCast article noted there are three kinds of waste:

1. Primary packaging is what we handle as consumers.

2. Secondary packaging is the term used for the larger cases or boxes that group quantities of primary packaged goods for distribution.

3. Transit packaging refers to the wooden boards, plastic wrapping, and containers that load, transport, and unload these goods.

Recycling has been a past topic, and one that can seriously impact our carbon footprint. In fact, we already see a savings of 300 million tons of carbon a year in the U.S.

There's so much focus on producing new sustainable products it seems like we forget how important it is to be mindful about what we already consume. I like it when I see initiatives like this with a robot that helps to intelligently recycle plastics. This seems to be the best of both worlds.

What do you think? How can we best address reusing our current products for long-term sustainability.

Melissa Etheridge and Rob Thomas to Take Part in the Dow Live Earth Run for Water

Andy Sternberg — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Two-time GRAMMY Award-winner and one-time Academy Award winner for Best Song for the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" Melissa Etheridge, and multi-platinum three-time GRAMMY Award-winner Rob Thomas, will perform live at the April 18th Los Angeles and Atlanta events, respectively. The largest worldwide water initiative on record to help combat the global water crisis, the Dow Live Earth Run for Water is a series of 6km run/walks (the average distance many women and children walk every day to get water), culminating with water education villages and live musical performances.

"I'm a long-time environmental advocate and believe strongly that it is our duty as a society and as individuals to preserve our planet and its resources," said Melissa Etheridge. "I want to lend my name and time to this event because the global water crisis is an environmental issue that affects nearly one billion people on the planet and through this event we can raise awareness and money to help address it."

"I am thrilled to be participating in this important event to bring clean, safe drinking water to the women and children around the world walking 6km every day to sustain their families," said Rob Thomas. "I encourage the Atlanta community to come out on April 18th because together we can make a difference in the lives of so many."

The events will take place in nearly 100 cities across 50 countries around the world on April 18, 2010, to raise awareness and funds to help solve the global water crisis. Pete Wentz, Angelique Kidjo, Alexandra Cousteau, and Jenny Fletcher have already been announced to support events on April 18th. Additional artists announcement for events taking place in Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York coming soon.

click here to register for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water Los Angeles. Click here to register for Atlanta. Click here to find an event near you.

Click here to read the full press release.

International Women's Day: Lighten the Burden

Tanvi Nagpal — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:01:32 +0000

At this very moment, millions of women are carrying 40 pounds of water on the return leg of their average 3.5-mile daily trek.

So today, on International Women's Day, I want to pay tribute to the resiliency of these women, and highlight the collective possibility they embody -- if freed from the back-breaking and time-consuming burden of collecting water.

Providing women with access to a nearby source of clean water frees up their days to earn an income or engage in other more productive activities – which can help significantly elevate their status in the community.

Nakwetikya is a great example of this. As part of a committee formed to look after a well supported by WaterAid in Ndedo, Tanzania, she has witnessed a dramatic shift in attitudes toward women in her community:

"Before we formed a [water] committee and prepared ourselves as a community, men just saw women as animals. I think they thought of us as bats flapping around them. They had no respect for us and no one would allow you to speak or listen to what you had to say. When I stand up now in a group I am not an animal. I am a woman with a valid opinion. We have been encouraged and trained and the whole community has learned to understand us."

You can read more stories like Nakwetikya's at http://action.globalwaterchallenge.org/womensday

You can help bring clean water to women around the world by participating in the Dow Live Earth Run for Water on April 18th: http://liveearth.org/run.

GWC will receive funds raised in the United States and invest these funds so that women and girls can have a better shot at fulfilling their potential.

I hope you are able to participate in what will be the largest event ever to raise awareness and funds about the critical issue of clean water.

Thanks for your support!

By Tanvi Nagpal, GWC’s Director of Water and Sanitation Initiatives. Global Water Challenge is a coalition of 24 leading organizations, working together to achieve universal access to clean water and adequate sanitation. Learn more at www.globalwaterchallenge.org.

Water Runs the City

Mark Tiele Westra — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Akvo is always looking for ways to assist our partners in realizing water and sanitation projects around the globe. Last year we approached the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU) to see if any of their students would be interested in exploring concepts that could help increase the water awareness of the general public. Five students immediately formed the Design for Water group.

The Design for Water team of the Utrecht School of Arts

One of the concepts they came up with relates to the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, and is called "Water Runs the City."

Catherina van der Meer, one of the Design for Water students: "We realized that the runners could form a water stream, running through the city - passing huge pictographs of pipes, taps, toilets, and umbrellas. It could help bring the run and the message it aims to conveys to life."

Have a look at the nice movie they did, which gives a good impression. Wouldn't it be great to see this in action one day!

Design for Water is a joint project between the HKU and Akvo. The concept is owned by HKU, and can be used for non-profit activities connected to the Dow Live Earth Run for Water. To contact the Design for Water team, please send a mail to Catharina van der Meer (designforwater [at] gmail.com) or to Mark Tiele Westra (m.t.westra [at] akvo.org).

Links:

Friends of Live Earth Featured Event: Tanzania

jgeeslin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000

We are proud to continue highlighting the wonderful Friends of Live Earth Run for Water events being planned around the world for April 18, 2010.

The Friends of Live Earth Run for Water event in Tanzania is taking place in a country where the water crisis hits very close to home. On April 18th, they will be having a 6km walk and a 15 kms run with the start and finish point from the New National Stadium which hosted the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. They will be mobilizing the entire corporate industry to participate in this initiative along with artists, athletes, college students, ministries and running clubs.

This important event will feature live musical performances and water education activities in an effort to ignite a massive global movement to put an end to this epidemic. All Tanzanian water stakeholders will have a chance to participate in one way or another to educate the audience and the community on the importance of saving water- an individual effort which can lead to global impact.

Click here for more information and to view the registration for this event.

Click here to find a Live Earth Run for Water event near you or click here to register your own Friends of Live Earth event.

Climate Action + 10 seconds = Free Music

jgeeslin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:49:52 +0000

If you take 10 seconds right now to let our leaders know climate and energy issues should be a top priority, you will receive an entire album of music FOR FREE from artists like Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, O.A.R., Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Phish and more! Just click here!

You work hard on climate and energy issues every day, so consider this a well-deserved reward from some bands who share your values and commitment to action.

Energy Action Coalition is proud to support the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, HeadCount and the NRDC Action Fund in this effort to inspire climate and energy action through the use of music. Other artists included on this 17 track compilation album include Guster, My Morning Jacket, Ani DeFranco, The Decemberists, Gov't Mule, Raphael Saadiq, The Disco Biscuits, moe., Bob Weir & Rat Dog, and Phil Lesh and Friends.

Click here to take action and get your free downloads today.

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Trimming, Timing, and Topping Off: Conserving Water Outside

Thomas M. Kostigen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

photo by Beth Harper via Creative Commons.

Outdoors is where we as residents tend to use huge amounts of water. In some parts of the country, mostly out in the arid West, 70 percent or more of residential water is used for lawn irrigation.

Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Pink flamingos and fountains aside, decorative lawns that need lots of care and lots of water are scourges. It may be that suburbia is making the wells run dry. Indeed, homeowners use an average of 120 gallons of water each day for things outside.

Think about that for a second: "things outside" -- where rain should be able to do the job nicely -- if we stick with the vegetation that grows naturally in our locale, that is. Irrigation, my dear water-freak neighbor, was invented to keep our fields of food alive, not your imported turf.

Get this: Of the estimated 7 billion gallons used each day for landscape irrigation, 50 percent is wasted due to runoff, evaporation, or simple overwatering. Our homes may be our castles, but we don't have to create moats to go along with them.

So rather than stand there, hose in hand, without a clue as to what you can do, here are some water-saving ideas to help you better manage your share when you’re outside.

Gutter diverters send the rainwater to your landscape or into rain barrels for storage. Considering that the average home in a temperate region can satisfy its annual outdoor water needs with solely the amount of water that falls on its roof, it’s silly to let rain go to waste. Every inch of rain that falls on a 2,000-square-foot roof totals more than 1,200 gallons.

How many times have you had to step off the sidewalk and into the street because some numbskull had his sprinkler pointed in the wrong direction? It's a common problem. The average sprinkler uses some 240 gallons of water per hour -- all of it wasted if the beneficiary is the patio or sidewalk. Sure, the fix is hard (you have to turn the spout toward the grassy area!) and takes all of 2 seconds, but do us all a favor, please.

Even if you can't pronounce it, you can do it: xeriscape. Xeriscaping means instead of a grassy lawn, you use drought-tolerant plants, stone walkways, mulch, and dirt to create a landscape. An acre designed this way can save about 850,000 gallons of water annually, which is almost enough to supply six homes with their entire water needs for a year.

The bottom line:

Don't overwater. Dousing the landscape literally with water won’t make it any greener. In fact, it’s one of the leading causes of floral death. Most outdoor plants, for example, are given 50 percent more water than they need.

Go natural. Indigenous plants and those that grow easily in the local area are what you should have. Nature usually provides sufficient water for its local habitat. Ban imports.

Maintain the drains. Keeping your gutters clear, your pipes pumping, and your pool clean prevents backups and spillage. Preventive maintenance keeps leaks and floods from ruining your home and the water supply. The average US home leaks 11,000 gallons a year.

Thomas M. Kostigen is the author of The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water-Savings Guide to Everything in Your Life (Rodale) in bookstores on March 22, World Water Day. www.thegreenbluebook.com.

RePower America - Pledge to Call Your Senators

jgeeslin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

This week many climate organizations are working together to create an all-out, bare-knuckled, three-day calling campaign to demand the strongest possible climate and clean energy legislation. RePower America wants you to take the pledge.

With critical negotiations happening right now in the Senate over climate and clean energy and a bill due to be announced soon, lobbyists from big polluting corporations are scrambling to throw as much firepower as they can against a strong bill.

Call your Senators and tell them what you think!

Once you're connected, remember to tell the staff member you're speaking to that:

You're a constituent
You want your Senators to pass strong clean energy and climate legislation this year
You want a strong bill that invests in clean energy, creates millions of jobs and sets a limit on harmful carbon pollution from all sectors of our economy

In Sunday's New York Times, Al Gore made clear the urgency of this moment for all of us - that without strong U.S. legislation this year, it could be too late to avoid climate catastrophe.

But that message won't get through to the Senate unless we create enormous public pressure.

Click here for more info and to make the pledge

Bill Clinton, Ban Ki-Moon Announce MASSIVEGOOD

Andy Sternberg — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:20:43 +0000

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and former U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled a new United Nations program to raise money to help fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and more. Through the program, called MASSIVEGOOD, travelers can donate a minimum of $2 on top of their airfare to support an international UN Health financing initiative by clicking on MASSIVEGOOD. Five clicks, the equivalent of $10, bought an insecticide-treated bed net, while 25 clicks was enough to pay for a year’s worth of HIV medication for one child.

Numerous celebrities joined Ban and Clinton in launching the initiative, including Susan Sarandon, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Auster, and Mary J. Blige, who all appeared in the spot below, produced by Spike Lee.

Click here for the MASSIVEGOOD iPhone app. Click here to visit massivegood.org.