Is Water a Luxury?

In H2O we've learned about the importance and rarity of water. In this unit (71%) we discussed potable water and the percentage of it in the world. At our Field Experience my partner and I carried 3 gallons in total from the Chicago River back to GCE which was about 0.2 miles away. This action project shows the difference between the average American, Peruvian, and my water usage.

                                                     TN (2017)  Is Water a Luxury? 

One of the first things we did was calculate our water usage. It turns out that my calculated water usage (82 gallons) is lower than the average Americans water usage but higher than the average Peruvian. Hygiene was the highest consume of water for me, I assume it's because I do a lot for my skin care and it takes a lot to wash my hair because it's so curly. It shocked me that the average water consumption for Peru was so low. It seems impossible to me to only use 43 gallons of water everyday after calculating my own water usage. In our Field Experience we simulated what it would be like to carry water everyday from a water source. I brought in an empty kitty litter container and my partner brought in milk jugs all together it took us 8 min to carry 3 gallons of water which is only 3 percent of  my daily water usage and 6 percent of Peru's  . While I was carrying the water it only felt that it was only getting heavier, my arms started to hurt and I was extremely thirsty. It was easier for me because I was able to switch off with my friend and take breaks if I was by myself I would have probably taken longer.     

I never thought that by the end of one unit my perspective of water would change so drastically. The hardest part for me was organizing my poster so it flowed well. Over all, I am proud of how my action project turned out. I am more conscious of how much water is being trashed in my household and with a water crisis going on in a city only 271 miles away from where I live it's important that I don't take it for granted.

  Only 2.5% of the world water is potable what are you going to do to make sure it lasts.
 
Water Tips

• Turn off water while brushing teeth or washing hair
• Check leaky toilets and fix them immediately 
• Water plants with unfinished water bottles
• Only run the dish washer a clothes washer when they are full

CITATIONS
Relentless (2016) American Flag USA Flag= Symbol
Cburnet (2007) Water drop
Huhsunqu  (2006) Flag of Peru 

H2O: A Long Walk to Water and A World Without Water Connection

Over the Summer, we were assigned to read the book A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park and watch a documentary called a world without water. The video below is my review/connection of both to each other, the course I'm taking H2O, and to GCE.