During this summer’s extended drought many communities have
imposed water use regulations on their residents. Water levels everywhere are
down many feet and there are some power plants that have to build a deeper
water intake to cool the plants because theirs is now above the current water
level. The corn crop has withered to the lowest yield expectations in decades
and you could lose a foot in the cracks in the ground.
Yet, a report just
came out that we are using more water than other years when there wasn’t a
drought. Why? Are we that concerned
about our flowers, gardens, lawns, and trees? Or are we taking more showers
because of the hot temperatures and we need to feel cleaner?
Whatever the reason, we have a serious situation on our
hands. I am not a biologist or a climate scientist but it doesn’t take an
expert to look around and see what is going on. I have to wonder what happens
to the CO2 in the atmosphere if more plants die because of lack of water. And
with higher costs for food and fuel on the way, what happens to the economic
recovery?

So what can we do about it? We can’t do anything big at the
moment, unfortunately. That isn’t how things work; though I wish they would.
A few things must come first.
1.
Use less water and power. – That will decrease
the demand on the waterways and the power plants. Make a conscious effort to do
this.
2.
Recycle! Making
new products out of recycled items saves energy, water, and resources
thereby putting less of a burden on power plants and ecosystems. Close the loop
and buy recycled products to keep the demand going.
3.
Write, email, and /or call your legislators and
let them know what is important to you. They can’t vote and represent you in
the ways you would like if they are only hearing from voices that are not
consistent with your views.
4.
Influence your friends, family, and neighbors.
Get the discussions going. You may know about the balance and dependence on
nature but maybe they don’t. Maybe all they see is their grocery and gas bills
going up and don’t understand why.
These are not big actions. They won’t take you a lot of time
either. In fact, the only thing that takes time is getting your voice heard by
your representatives. What about your family, neighbors and friends? You see
them all the time anyway, whether you like it or not in some cases, so you can
bring it up with them at those times.
Baby steps, everyone. We have to crawl
before we walk, and I see these few small steps as good ways to get us
there.
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