The Hydro-Illogical Cyle

It has been raining generously for the past few days in the Cary area. The grasses are greener but unfortunately, the greener they get, the more apathetic one might tend to become about conserving water. The truth is that in most cases, it is safe to say that rain will eventually always come. The problem is that if we do not make conservation a regular habit, when we are in a more severe drought situation in the future, we as individuals and communities will have to bear more intense consequences. The shift from concern to apathy and back is explained in a diagram called the "Hydro-Illogical Cycle". Follow this link to take a look for a better understanding of why the problem persists even in the onset of these luxurious rains.

http://drought.unl.edu/plan/cycle.htm

My Project: Building a Well in Malawi

I am on a mission to save 1.1 billion people one well at a time. This is the number of people around the globe who do not have access to potable water. These people die at a rate of 42,000 per week from water borne sickness like cholera.

Please visit my page to donate money for this cause. 100% of your contribution goes directly to the well. Together we would be giving clean water to as many as 500 needy people in Malawi for as long as 20 years. Let's give water, lets give them a chance to live.

http://www.charitywater.org/getinvolved/promos/bindhu_pamarthi/

Rain Barrels

The Town of Cary is selling barrels for $34 and for $16 you can purchase a kit that you can use to transform the barrel into a rain barrel. The original pre-made rain barrel costs over $80 so this is a deal. Please consider taking advantage of the rainfall by harvesting rainwater for outdoor use to help ease the strain on our diminished supply of treated water. The barrels and kits can be purchased at the community centers but for further information visit:

http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/waterconservation/rainbarrels.htm

Block Leader

This past Tuesday, June 24th at 7pm, I attended my first meeting for the Town of Cary's Block Leader Program. This initiative, years in the running, allows the city's residents to take matters into their own hands by representing their neighborhoods and accepting responsibility. As a Block Leader (BL), I will receive materials dealing with recycling and water conservation that I will be responsible for distributing to 140 houses. I encourage more residents to join the program and serve their neighborhoods to help increase the number of households reached by this system.

If you are interested, email Srijana Guilford, the Conservation Education Specialist, at Srijana.Guilford@townofcary.org for more information. You should move quickly though as the last meeting is July 14th!

In the spirit

I have recently learned that some of the most valuable things you can do, can be accomplished in less than 1 minute. The "Hunger Site" is a website that has corporate sponsors who donate money to feed the poor each time you click a certain button on their home page. You can only click once a day but just imagine the impact we could have as a state, nation and world if every person with a computer made the effort to remind themselves to click this button daily? I ignored this site for a long time thinking it was phony and too good to be true but it seems (after some web searching) that this setup is effectively the most innovative idea on the web.

You might be wondering what this has to do with this water conservation blog. I happend to be searching for a good way to spend some money after a fundraiser with a club. I saw that the Hunger Site sold "products" that allowed you to pay for a teacher's salary in a developing country or buy children shoes for school. What is more is that I found a product called "Water Mercy Kit" for about $30. This kit would fund the Mercy Corps's building a reliable water source in a village in the world's most trouble regions.

I felt as though working together as Americans to raise money for such projects would help us realize the value of the water that seems so readily available to us. Thinking of how such a large portion of the world's population has no access to potable water will remind us of how priviledged we are and might possibly deter many from leaving that faucet, that too many around the globe do not even have, running.

Please visit the link posted to visit the "Hunger Site" to fulfill the menial responsibitly you owe by clicking the button.

Cary's Conservation Incentives

If you live in Cary, there are several new and easier ways you can step up your inolvement in the large group effort to save water. Below is a link to the city's most recent incentives being offered to residents interested in building rain barrels, installing high efficiency toilets and warm season grass!

http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pwdept/water/waterconservation/incentiveprograms/incentiveprograms.htm

In the Cary News Again!!

Here is the link to the online version about local blogs which includes this one!
http://www.carynews.com/arts_more/story/8801.html