Category Archives: Sustainability

Infrastructure, Sustainability

Take Action to Make a Difference


Close-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface.
Catherine Fenton, Artist

March 22, 2016 marked another World Water Day, a day setaside for international observation and opportunity to learn about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference.

A Human Right

There are many non profitorganizations and devoted individuals thatdedicate themselves to thebelief that clean water should be a human right.

A Luxury In Africa

The inspiration of artist Catherine Fenton is “women without the luxury of running water that waste hours everyday fetching water. Time that could be spent on education or more productive work.”

Close-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface.
Chris Steele-Perkins 1981
SOUTHERN AFRICA. Lesotho. School children during a rainstorm….

In Africa, some women literally carry the burden of collecting water for their families. Clean water sources are often far from their village, demanding that women and girls take action to walk for hours to retrieve their family water supply. The journey can be long, taking hours, subjecting women and girls to carry heavy loads of water on their heads. Education for women can becomessecondary to the needs of hauling water for the family.

Enjoy this African Rain Song

Infrastructure, Sustainability

A Precious Resource – Think Twice About Wasting Water


Close-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface.So many of us may have become complacent about the water that has seemingly so easily flowed through our faucets and garden hoses. In the United States, drought and aging infrastructure served as not so gentle reminders that clean, safe water does not flow freely if we don’t take steps to preserve this precious resource. Flint, MI has poisoned its citizens with lead, which has lead to increased testing – and lead and other toxins arebeing found in public systems countrywide. In other parts of the world, clean, safe, flowing water is a luxury, which many do not have.

We commemorated World Water Day this week. Life cannot be sustained without water; as such, we believe it is a basic human right. According to UNWater.org, ‘World Water Day is an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference.”

The theme for this years’ World Water Day was water and jobs, and putting a spotlight on how quality and quantity of water can change lives and livelihoods – and even transform societies and economies.

Think about it –installing a small rainwater system for a home or business can vastly improve the lives of residents, employees, families – but alsothe overall public by reducing loads on public systems. Private systems can still be connected to city or well water, which would be used as backup to rainwater systems, if and when necessary.

But enough about us, we really wanted to share some amazing photos, that will make you think twice about wasting water. The extraordinary shots document how folks around the world access water. We encourage you to take a look, and then think about how we may be heading in this direction if we don’t start thinking about how we can better manage our access to safe and clean water – and the hazards that threaten our aging public systems.

Infrastructure, Sustainability

Will Decentralized Water Systems Flow in the Wake of Flint Crisis?


Matt GrocoffClose-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface., a writer, speaker and recognized leader in net zero energy and living buildings asks: “What if there is a better way for Flint and other cities to harvest and deliver life-enhancing water?

We’ve talked about why decentralized water systems are important to our public safety and why rainwater collection is a simple source for decentralized water, and how it can be the answer toour aging, centralized water systems. With expected increased demand from high density development and the high cost of upgrading infrastructure to meet those demands, water is becominga commodity.

In his February 15th post for Michigan Radio, Can Flint crisis inspire better water systems for all of us?, Grocoff goes on to say, “There is no doubt that Flint’s water crisis is an unqualified failure of democracy, but it is also a century-old failure of design and systems thinking.”

With a progressive train of thought, he asks, instead of replacing all of the pipes, how aboutbuilding a better system? This practicalapproach has some of us scratching our heads because it makes perfect sense.

As science and technology evolve, we should adapt new practices for designing and buildingpublic water systems – for the sake of our health, longevity, sustainability and affordability.