Despite my frustration with them, I must say the Water Dept is coming through for us in some major ways.... not only keeping it flowing (as long as we pay in dollars) but helping with conservation measures. The Vallejo department is offering free low-flow shower heads (nice ones, with massage and various other stream options) and a lawn watering guide- it's a chart that shows how long to leave the water on, calculated by the length of time it takes to fill an empty can with 1.5 inches of water, and more helpful hints like adjusting sprinkers so the water goes to the plants, not the sidewalks; surprising how many of us water the sidewalks!
They've also issued an important Alert regarding antibacterial soaps and other products containing Triclosan- which is all of them. I've been interested in antibacterial products since working as an Infection Control Nurse; I wondered whether these pervasive products would promote ARMs (anti-bacterial resistant microbes) in the same way antibiotics do. I found plenty research on the subject- the answer is NO, there's no danger of promoting ARMs from using those products; Triclosan, the common anti-bacterial agent in soaps and plastics, is powerful enough that it kills everything in its path, rather like bleach but easier on the skin. I also found out that it's really unneccessary to use antibacterials instead of plain old soap- the best cleaning is accomplished by friction and the slipperiness of soap, which effectively sluices off dirt and microbes.
Unfortunately, killing microbes isn't all Triclosan does. According to the Water Dept, small amounts of Triclosan are showing up in our water supply. While not apparently harmful when used on skin, it's potentially deadly when ingested. No real danger from the tiny amounts we ingest daily from the overloaded public water supply- the problem is, Triclosan is stored in the body rather than safely excreted, meaning it builds up over time to potentially toxic levels..... and there's no way to completely remove it from our water or our bodies.
What to do? First of course, stop using antibacterial products. We don't need em. Second, harvest rainwater- it's still the purest drinking water around!
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Keeping Clean
Ever since working as an infection control nurse, I've been interested in the rapid spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes (ARMs). I'd known from childhood that taking antibiotics uneccessarily or not following the prescription- usually taking only PART of the pills, until I felt better- would open the door to future antibiotics "not working". I thought that meant that they wouldn't work on me. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this cavalier use of antibiotics poses a major public health risk! In fact, since the first use of penicillin in the 1940s, ARMs have been observed; some microbes were observed to have developed penicillin resistance in the first few years of use.... and of course, it hasn't ended there; the new "superbugs" surface regularly- overwhelming staph infection in a healthy young man was reported just last week in the local news; from a small cut, the guy went septic- infection carried in the blood stream.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Being a Part of It All
A friend commented: Have you heard of the Waterkeepers Alliance? Wonder if any of them have made their way into your circle. Turkey Creek Community Initiatives is a member of the Alliance (at least for now).
WOW. I checked em out at http://www.waterkeeper.org/. I very much dig that they’re a national constellation of groups of trained local people with their own boat (and waders, too!) observing and documenting, through formal protocols, the condition of watersheds and waterways in their own neighborhoods, focusing on the effects of industrial pollutants. They sound like true Guradians of the Earth, Water Division. Also provides the people direct connection with Earth as well as power tools for protection of, and advocacy for, healthy living waters.
For myself, it’s essential now that I focus on my own daily practice: the solid realization that I am myself an industrial polluter- an Ajax chlorine BLEACH user, a solvent and detergent user, a corporate water user, and that I have a choice about that, as well as deeply felt knowing that I can do this- keeps me focused on personally exploring daily practice independent of the hegemony of Babylon. I find that employment or participation within the nonprofit world, the corporate world- especially working with issues I care about deeply- keeps me thinking/being/engaging/obsessing in and with the Babyloney of struggle. Struggle with meetings, papers, memos, budgets, deadlines, filings, phones, bureaucrats and bureaucratic wrangling, all the while desperate to keep “making” enough little money to keep giving to the big polluters/sweatshop runners/agribusiness captains/bankers/looters to keep them supplying the soaps and balms and fashions and “entertainments” I’ve come to depend on….. Well.
I’ve been thinking lately that all of our widely varying practices- social, political, cultural, personal, thinking, religious practices- are essentially human attempts to live consonant with our human needs, in this case our need to do right by our own lights, the light being reflections of the same Sun through widely varying lenses.
Guardians of the Earth like Waterkeepers and TCCI are trained, willing & able to engage directly with the Man in his own language. Formal organization is essential to that process.
And through my current lens, informal organization is essential: focusing on practice within my geographic community, who or whatever that is, is opening in me exploration and direct, immediate engagement with LIFE.
WOW. I checked em out at http://www.waterkeeper.org/. I very much dig that they’re a national constellation of groups of trained local people with their own boat (and waders, too!) observing and documenting, through formal protocols, the condition of watersheds and waterways in their own neighborhoods, focusing on the effects of industrial pollutants. They sound like true Guradians of the Earth, Water Division. Also provides the people direct connection with Earth as well as power tools for protection of, and advocacy for, healthy living waters.
For myself, it’s essential now that I focus on my own daily practice: the solid realization that I am myself an industrial polluter- an Ajax chlorine BLEACH user, a solvent and detergent user, a corporate water user, and that I have a choice about that, as well as deeply felt knowing that I can do this- keeps me focused on personally exploring daily practice independent of the hegemony of Babylon. I find that employment or participation within the nonprofit world, the corporate world- especially working with issues I care about deeply- keeps me thinking/being/engaging/obsessing in and with the Babyloney of struggle. Struggle with meetings, papers, memos, budgets, deadlines, filings, phones, bureaucrats and bureaucratic wrangling, all the while desperate to keep “making” enough little money to keep giving to the big polluters/sweatshop runners/agribusiness captains/bankers/looters to keep them supplying the soaps and balms and fashions and “entertainments” I’ve come to depend on….. Well.
I’ve been thinking lately that all of our widely varying practices- social, political, cultural, personal, thinking, religious practices- are essentially human attempts to live consonant with our human needs, in this case our need to do right by our own lights, the light being reflections of the same Sun through widely varying lenses.
Guardians of the Earth like Waterkeepers and TCCI are trained, willing & able to engage directly with the Man in his own language. Formal organization is essential to that process.
And through my current lens, informal organization is essential: focusing on practice within my geographic community, who or whatever that is, is opening in me exploration and direct, immediate engagement with LIFE.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Water, Water Everywhere....
Food, shelter, water- the Man will take it all away if you have no money to pay for it.
Thank god we can still breathe free.... but of course that doesn't help much if we have no water...
Municipal water delivery and sanitation systems are quite costly, of course. Costly in power terms, money terms, and human life terms. In that order. Don't get me wrong- I think that municipal systems are a very good idea; in fact municipalities are certainly the best system we have for distributing water to humans. But it'll cost you- and that's where I get off the boat. In my town, the water billing office is behind double bullet-proof glass. Warning signs blanket the walls: no swearing, no guns, no violence. It's the only place at City Hall I've seen security gurads patrolling. I guess people who pay their water bills in person tend to be angry. I guess they want water.
How can it be that $ come before humans? How can it be that what's so freely shared with us from the earth we live on can be controlled by others? Or that "municipalities" will actually cut off water to members of the municipality that don't pay what they demand?
The usual answers are on the order of "Well, someone has to pay for it" or "That's the only system we got, we just need to work with the system" and "if you don't vote, you got nothin to say about it". Oh, I say. Just work within the only system we've got. Vote. Stay in the system that is relentlessly, inexorably controlling and parcelling out earth-given resources for those of us who're lucky enough to be able to pay in $. Leave six hundred sixty million humans on the earth- now, this minute- with no water. Working with the system seems to take a little too much time here- it reminds me of the twenty-seven people who recently spent three days clinging to a tuna net at sea while three countries argued about who'd be responsible for rescuing them. While the fisherman harvested the tuna from the nets. While the twenty-seven humans fought for their lives.
Of course, I could no more send rations of water around the world than I could send my childhood leftovers to the starving children in China who'd be glad to have it- but that doesn't stop me, or any of us, from actively seeking solutions outside the hegemony of Capitalism.
Here's what I'm doing:
First of all, I'm re-using water. Gray water is a perfectly acceptable way to water the garden. I siphon the water from the big tub I use for bathing into the garden; Kola's made ditches and tilted planes in the planting beds so water that's run in flows and seeps down to the plant's roots. I use biocompatible soap- my preferred is Dr Bronner's castille. Ivory's also biocompatible.
Second, I'm planning a rainwater harvest system. Yes, it'll take some $- and when it's in place, the sky will give us water! Want some?
Thank god we can still breathe free.... but of course that doesn't help much if we have no water...
Municipal water delivery and sanitation systems are quite costly, of course. Costly in power terms, money terms, and human life terms. In that order. Don't get me wrong- I think that municipal systems are a very good idea; in fact municipalities are certainly the best system we have for distributing water to humans. But it'll cost you- and that's where I get off the boat. In my town, the water billing office is behind double bullet-proof glass. Warning signs blanket the walls: no swearing, no guns, no violence. It's the only place at City Hall I've seen security gurads patrolling. I guess people who pay their water bills in person tend to be angry. I guess they want water.
How can it be that $ come before humans? How can it be that what's so freely shared with us from the earth we live on can be controlled by others? Or that "municipalities" will actually cut off water to members of the municipality that don't pay what they demand?
The usual answers are on the order of "Well, someone has to pay for it" or "That's the only system we got, we just need to work with the system" and "if you don't vote, you got nothin to say about it". Oh, I say. Just work within the only system we've got. Vote. Stay in the system that is relentlessly, inexorably controlling and parcelling out earth-given resources for those of us who're lucky enough to be able to pay in $. Leave six hundred sixty million humans on the earth- now, this minute- with no water. Working with the system seems to take a little too much time here- it reminds me of the twenty-seven people who recently spent three days clinging to a tuna net at sea while three countries argued about who'd be responsible for rescuing them. While the fisherman harvested the tuna from the nets. While the twenty-seven humans fought for their lives.
Of course, I could no more send rations of water around the world than I could send my childhood leftovers to the starving children in China who'd be glad to have it- but that doesn't stop me, or any of us, from actively seeking solutions outside the hegemony of Capitalism.
Here's what I'm doing:
First of all, I'm re-using water. Gray water is a perfectly acceptable way to water the garden. I siphon the water from the big tub I use for bathing into the garden; Kola's made ditches and tilted planes in the planting beds so water that's run in flows and seeps down to the plant's roots. I use biocompatible soap- my preferred is Dr Bronner's castille. Ivory's also biocompatible.
Second, I'm planning a rainwater harvest system. Yes, it'll take some $- and when it's in place, the sky will give us water! Want some?
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