Starting today, I am wearing a pedometer to track how far I walk each day and how much water I drink to put the global issue of potable water in perspective as Earth Day approaches. 2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, and 80 percent of diseases in the developing world are caused by contaminated water. Even when safe drinking water is available, women in Africa and Asia must walk an average of 3.7 miles to and from the nearest improved sanitation facility to collect it, and they of course can only collect what they can carry.
It’s still not enough. I will report back on Earth Day, but my hypothesis is that the distance I walk in about a week would only get me 10% of the water I drink.
Raise awareness of this issue and win! The 10th person to link to share this blog post (however you’d like…twitter, facebook, tumblr, email…) and let me know will win a pedometer from Timex so that you can try this at home. It’s yours to keep, so you can use it for exercise, calorie counting, and more!
Also, watch this video from this campaign’s sponsor, Rotary International, explaining more:
In my Earth Day post, I’ll let you know some actions you can take to improve global access to potable water, and I will include any reader suggestions, too.
Jen Bokoff 