Category Archives: Environment

Nov19

This Man’s Mind Is In The Toilet

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This Man’s Mind Is In The Toilet

Today is the first ever World Toilet Day and a new report released today Co-published by WaterAid, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, and Unilever’s leading household cleaning brand, Domestos, We can’t wait highlights the stark consequences that the lack of toilets and good hygiene practices have for women and girls. according to this report there are still 2.5 billion people in this world without adequate sanitation. Lack of sanitation directly impacts education, health and safety, especially for women and girls.

“One in three [people] lack access to adequate sanitation,” noted UN Deputy-Secretary General, Jan Eliasson and Unilever Chief Executive Officer, Paul Polman in the report. “The result is widespread death and disease and social marginalization. Poor sanitation exposes women and girls to the risk of assault and, when schools cannot provide clean, safe toilets, girls’ attendance drops.”

In Rhode Island, one man has come up with an innovative  solution. Dr Stephen Mecca is a Professor in the department of Engineering-Pysics-Systems at Providence College, and a visiting scholar at the University of Ghana. He co-Invented the micro flush valve and with his research team has created an environmentally sensible , sanitary, and dignified, re-invention of the toilet. Designed for warm weather environments, this toilet takes less than a cup of water to flush,  and that comes from the hand washing of the previous user. In the above video Dr. mecca explains how it works.

This Microflush toilet is the type of innovation that can transform lives, and the We Can’t Wait Report  shows that strong partnerships between the public and private sectors are key to tackling the sanitation crisis, and that more frequent cross-sector collaboration is essential to improving the lives of women and girls.

Infographic source: the We Can't Wait report

Infographic source: the We Can’t Wait report

About WaterAid

WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation. The international organization works in 27 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific Region to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest communities. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 19 million people with safe water and, since 2004, 15 million people with sanitation. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org, follow @WaterAidAmerica on Twitter or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraidamerica.

Nov13

Conflict Minerals; You’ve Heard The Term, But Do You Know What They Are?

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Conflict Minerals; You’ve Heard The Term, But Do You Know What They Are?

With the upcoming holiday season and all of the shopping that goes with it, some mindful giving guides for the holidays will be posted on documama soon. My lists will include products from companies conscientiously aiming to produce conflict mineral free products.

This is a great overview by the Enough Project of what Conflict Minerals are and how as consumers we are involved.

Oct29

One Year After Hurricane Sandy

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One Year After Hurricane Sandy

Shoreline

This evening the shore line of the East Coast will alight with memorial candles and flashlights shining to commemorate the losses one year after Hurricane Sandy.  Many people were caught unprepared in that storm and in many areas the damage is still evident.  Save The Children is the nation’s leading child-focused emergency response organization, and has helped 500,000 children affected by U.S. disasters since Hurricane Katrina, including 40,000 children affected by Hurricane Sandy.  The nonprofit’s Westport, Conn. headquarters were also seriously damaged by the storm,  and so to mark this one year date, the organization hopes to make sure that next time, because there is sure to be another storm, communities are prepared.

Parents disaster checklist

“Sandy was the most terrifying experience in the lives of thousands of children.  But the day the storm struck was only the beginning of the upheaval and turmoil many children have experienced since,” said Carolyn Miles, Save the Children’s President and CEO.   “Sandy has underscored what we already know–that children are the most vulnerable when disaster strikes.  And yet, our nation continues to under-invest in protecting our kids,” Miles said.

Save the Children is calling on Americans to take action to protect children – by preparing their own families and by supporting improved policies.  The organization’s Get Ready. Get Safe. initiative offers visitors to the site their state’s disaster report card results with an option to write their governor and a video showing Sandy’s impact on children and downloadable preparedness checklists for both parents and childcare facilities.

Let’s make sure we are prepared next time around, and able to keep our children safe.

Save the Children is the leading, independent organization that creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

 

 

 

Apr22

5 Ways To Go Green This Earth Day

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5 Ways To Go Green This Earth Day

5 ways to go green this Earth Day

Mar22

March 22nd Is World Water Day

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March 22nd Is World Water Day

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

Many years ago traveling in Africa I took this photo of young girls carrying these huge jugs of water through their village to their homes.  This is a snapshot of a scene that I saw played out time and again in my travels through the continent. Lines at village hand pumps, and heavy jerry cans balanced on heads, hours fetching water that could otherwise have been spent by these young girls in school, or by the women earning a living.   By being there, at times the amount of effort put into accessing the most basic of human necessities, and the conservation required once obtained, became my own reality as well.  Having grown up with an abundance of water, this was a sharp learning curve on what a precious commodity water is.  It is easy to take it for granted when you have it, until you don’t.  According to statistics from WaterAid the average North American uses 400 liters of water every day, while the average person in the developing world uses 10 liters of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking. (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)) So, while I returned home to the many taps of flowing water inside my house with a new appreciation for that luxury, 783 million people around the world are without clean water to drink.  Combine that fact with the lack of proper sanitation in many of the same regions and the result is 2,000 children who die each day from water related diseases.

The United Nations has established March 22nd as a day to examine water issues around the world.

WaterAid is an International non-profit organization that helps the world’s poorest people to plan, build and manage their own safe water supplies and to improve their sanitation and hygiene.  These basic services transform lives.

“Water is just the beginning of the road out of poverty.  Hours spent carrying water can instead be spent with family, tending crops, raising livestock or starting a business.  Simple changes to sanitation and hygiene practices save thousands of babies’ lives and keep children in school.”- WaterAid.

How you can help:

  • Watch, and share the below video:

 

 

 

Follow WaterAid America on Twitter and Facebook and share their posts on the #20ways that water is just the beginning of the road out of poverty.

  • Join the World Water Day Google+ Hangout at 1.30pm EST on March 22 where WaterAid and other water organizations will be discussing the world water crisis and solutions in a celebration moderated by YouTube star Justine Ezarik.
  • Make a donation: as experts in practical, hands-on water solutions WaterAid has brought clean water to 17.5 million people. But they need your help to achieve their aim of helping 1.4 million more people this year.

 

Visit www.wateraidamerica.org/worldwaterday for all the latest World Water  Day news.

I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.

Our Motto: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.