Tag: water

World Water Day 2015

Today is a holiday to celebrate water! Yesterday, I got to see the Atlantic Ocean and water everywhere-it was wonderful. Water has a way of southing and nourishing my soul, my spirits and my heart all at once. We are lucky here and water abounds. I drink many glasses a day of water. Water flows out of the spigot easily for so many uses almost as if by magic. It’s without much thought to the availability, and ease, of that fabulous water that my daily routine flows each day.

However, World Water Day is a serious issue. I like the way Time Magazine featured it-so I will give you the first bit here, and then send you all over to the article for the rest. 

A holiday for H2O

Sunday is World Water Day, a United Nations initiative to celebrate clean water and bring attention to those who don’t have enough of it. A new report released ahead of World Water Day warns about a looming shortage, and centers on this year’s theme: water and sustainable development.

Here are five ways to celebrate World Water Day….

http://time.com/3753021/world-water-day/

(I’ll give you a hint as the five: food, females, and of course- poop- but it’s not what you think. By the way, on the last one, check out the astronauts, they and Bill Gates have this “recycle” process in common!) 

Another great site and easy to absorb (ha ha) info is from UNWater. It’s a great presentation of water and the worlds needs. http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday

I close this post with MOE- Botanical Beauties Minister of Clean Water.

He has water-breathing gills and can travel in the seas for as long as needed. He and his family can adapt to sea or land as needed. This makes Moe’s job as Minister of Clean Water a natural for him. As he swims, he performs water tests, makes notations of underwater spots of beauty and reports on problem areas. Unfortunately, these areas are more common than he would like to see. He strives to help in any way he can, for he is aware that it all starts with ONE person, or in this case one Botanical Fish. 

Moe, Our Minster of Clean Water
Moe in his element WATER.

Are they all Beauties? Is their a Beast?

Beauty and the Beast?
Beauty and the Beast?

I have been thinking about water, waves, the sounds of the waves, the oceans roar, and then back to the stillness that water can have. The ebb and flow of it all. It’s almost magical how the water flows in and out of the sea onto the sand, continually restoring itself, and laps up on the shore again. Continual replenishment!  If only it were that easy for us. Maybe it is? The other two big topics on my mind lately are happiness and friendships. The connection to all this is I actually got to go to the beach/ocean, and share three days with three wonderful friends. We laughed a lot, and a few tears were shed as well. Some were caused because we were laughing so hard, and some were of sadness – all were water!  All good. All cleansing. All replenishing to the soul. It was truly a respite for us all- the ocean, the warmth, the love of such close friends, the good times, the sounds, the sunshine, even the rain, the whole “ball of wax.” It took us almost 2 years to finally make that weekend happen- it was worth the wait. (Thanks to- you know who you are! ) The above large Horseshoe Crab had washed up to the shore along with about 15 others- I have never seen anything quite like it? All within about 50 feet of each other, and only in that one spot? We were wondering if they were all coming ashore to lay eggs? Again, the cycles of the water, the ocean. How odd that these animals had to bump, jostle and wait for the next wave to make their way to the beach sand. I’m sure their is a life analogy in that somewhere!

Added to the top layer of the above image is another image- this one of a 17th century piece/fountain head- spouting water. The face made me smile for the expression of the eyes, and eyebrows are most amazing. And yet, it fits- it somehow all ties into the fluidity of life, the water that we all need to sustain ourselves. The flow, the rhythm, the cold, the hot, the ocean, the water glass, the shower, the cup of tea/coffee, the waves, the sounds-and back to the oceans roar. An amazing face, a spiky crab, and Moe (Minister of Clean Water in my magical land of Botaniumaus.) All beauties to me…but as we know-Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I am pretty sure the same is true for sounds.  Crashing, jumping, or gentle waves-sounds that truly soothe my soul. What’s your soul soothing sound?

Birdelini and World Water Week

Birdelini and The Great Wave
Birdelini and The Great Wave © Botanical Beauties and Beasties

Yesterday was World Water Day…..Birdelini is showing her support!

“Water pollution is a main cause of reduced water availability and can have serious impacts on the environment and on human health. Pollution stems for inappropriate industrial and agricultural practices as well as from urban waste production. In agriculture, overuse of chemical fertilizers and of pesticides leads to contamination of water bodies (rivers, lakes, underground aquifers). Intensive livestock production can also impact the quality of water resources if measures are not taken. New, more integrated approaches to food production can substantially improve the situation and limit pollution.

 

Protection also means conservation. A good soil, well maintained, can capture much of the rainwater, and avoid surface runoff which causes erosion and the loss of soil nutrients. Conservation agriculture is a farming practice that makes best use of available water, increases the resistance of plants to droughts and at the same time contributes to improving both the quantity and quality of groundwater and rivers.

Management of watersheds and the protection of water sources are also important. Forests can play an important role in protecting water resources.”

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/faqs.html

Day 2- Power Source week: Hydro Power

The views expressed do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of BB&B.
It is a food for thought week!

Help for Japan:
Donate to the Red Cross – http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main
Donate to Doctors without Boarders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/overview.cfm

What we are going to “chat” about today is LOW IMPACT HYDRO POWER.

It’s World Water Day!

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. This site started in 2001 as a community space and repository where people can upload their WWD event activities and reports. The theme changes every year.    http://www.worldwaterday.org/ &  http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/about.html

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“Hydropower is energy obtained from flowing water. Hydroelectric power supplies about 19 percent of the world’s electricity and an estimated 10 percent of electric generating capacity in the United States via dams and turbines. Hydropower is normally applied to peak-load demand because it is so readily stopped and started.

Thousands of hydropower dams throughout the U.S. are located on many rivers and streams. These dams can create pollution-free energy, but they can also produce adverse impacts on fish, wildlife and other resources.”  To read whole article http://www.greenpoweremc.com/lowimpacthydro.aspx

Image from Green Power EMC (in Georgia)
How Hydro Power Works -Image from Green Power EMC (in Georgia)

However, according to a Vermont Trout Unlimited Chapter President Clark Amadon ” New Hydro Power in the US is dead… because all the viable eco sites have been developed already.”  Through Mr Amadon The Botanicals have learned about  The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI), based in Portland Maine.  On their website they state “LIHI’s mission is to reduce the impacts of hydropower dams through market incentives. LIHI does this through its Hydropower Certification Program, a voluntary certification program designed to help identify and reward hydropower dams that are minimizing their environmental impacts. Just as an organic label can help consumers choose the foods and farming practices they want to support, the LIHI certification program can help energy consumers choose the energy and hydropower practices they want to support.

In order to be certified by the Institute, a hydropower facility must meet criteria in the following eight areas:

  1. river flows,
  2. water quality,
  3. fish passage and protection,
  4. watershed protection
  5. threatened and endangered species protection,
  6. cultural resource protection,
  7. recreation, and
  8. facilities recommended for removal.”

Pretty cool stuff!

Now we all know that like all power sources, Hydro Power has some good things about it like these dams can create pollution-free energy …but that it also but… the dams can also produce significant adverse impacts on fish and wildlife and other resources.

and here is a news bite form Australia on the topic …from Geoff Strong is a  Senior writer at The Age Article is from The Sydney Morning Herald. (smh.com.au)

“Last week, Australian scientist Lee Furlong, who has worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said of the Japanese crisis that part of the problem was that the industry there was entirely private. By contrast, in France, which gets 80 per cent of its power from nuclear, there is a high level of government control.

”The French are not frightened of government regulation – I think they still have the guillotine,” Furlong quipped.

To the free-market high priests of today, any suggestion of government regulation is a step backwards. As for the rest of us, keen to maintain an economy in which we have jobs and can afford to keep the lights on, we might need to step backwards in order to step forwards.” Read the whole article.