Tag Archives: sustainability

Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Is Our Planet Running Out of Water?

children-409228_640The Washington Post, using NASA data, is reporting that the planet is indeed running out of water at rates that are frightening.

According to NASA satellite data, on a worldwide basis, more fresh water is being taken out of aquifers than is going into them. This means that our planet’s water supply has hit levels that are not sustainable in the long-term.

“The situation is quite critical,” said Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and principal investigator of the University of California Irvine-led studies.

Of course, the California drought makes matters much worse, as it’s being reported that 60% of current water use there comes from aquifers – and that rate is expected to increase by the end of the year.

Read more from the Washington Post and see the  NASA satellite data for yourself.

Do you know that RainBank is a RWC leader in the Pacific Northwest? To learn more about Rainwater Collection Systems, you can also visit ARCSA (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association).

Rainwater Harvesting Education, Sustainability

California Gets Proactive About Drought

half-dome-534768_640Finally, some great news about the California drought!

A recent release from the California State Water Board  (also shared by ARCSA) announced a $30 million grant to be awarded to 30 school districts for education on stormwater capture and conservation.

The drought response outreach program (DROPS) for schools was established by the California State Water Board and will include on campus rainwater collection systems, bio swales,water wise landscaping along with education of conservation.

Education, including hands on experience, will help students understand the importance of conservation and how to plan for tomorrow. California Governor Brown and the State Water Board clearly understand that the time is now to do something about future water availability. Proactive response to a 4 year drought has been implemented. Let’s hope other states, including Washington State, take notice and follow with their own programs.
Sustainability

How Much Water Does it Take to Produce our Food?

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avocado-713094_640Have you ever thought about how much water it takes to produce the foods we eat, that are grown in the United States?  Many of these come from drought-ridden California, where water is a vital component to support its agricultural industry.

The New York Times published a list, which calculates the average amount of water that is needed to produce an average serving of some of our favorite and necessary (who can live without avocado?) foods.

cappuccino-593256_640According to the article, these foods are among the highest amount of water needed:

  • Beef
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Rice
  • Almonds

What are the choices? Do we eat less of these foods? Should we seek to eat foods imported from other countries, or should we substitute foods that use less water to produce?

The story also lists foods that require less water to produce, like:

  • Apples
  • Cabbage
  • Raspberries
  • Spinach
  • Sweet potatoes

Click here to see the rest of the artistically, but simply laid out story.

In the end, we have choices. The question is, which are best for a sustainable future?