The story of bottled water

Annie Leonard is a genius! She will be honored at this year's Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood annual meeting in Boston, April 8-10: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/

From the people that brought you the great Story of Stuff, Enjoy, the Story of Bottled Water.

What's wrong with this picture?!

My friend, Ryan McGillicuddy a Conservation Ecologist at Inland Fisheries brought this to my attention.

The following figure can be found on page 13 of Water in Texas By Andrew Sansom, Emily R Armitano, Tom Wassenich:

Blue Planet Film Festival

The first annual Blue Planet Film Festival will be held at 6:00 PM on Friday March 27th, 2009 at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston, MA.

Co-hosted by the Friedman School and the interdisciplinary Water Science, Systems and Society Program of Tufts University, the festival will include a free viewing of a feature length film, short, and question and answer panel of experts. This should be an excellent networking opportunity.

The festival features the film Flow directed by Irena Salina and the short Drop of Life directed by Shalini Kantayya. Both works examine the threat of water shortages and the growing tension between water rights and the privatization of water. Water rights issues have widespread consequences. As Vice President Ismail Serageldin of the World Bank once famously stated, “The next world war will be over water.”

“The festival is an opportunity for students to learn about threats to ensuring water as a human right and positive action they can be a part of,” states organizer and Friedman student Ashley Colpaart.

Date: March 27th 2009
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Price: Free
Location: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy 150 Harrison Ave Boston, MA.

Light snacks will be served.

The aquaduct, a clean water solution

"What have the Roman's ever done for us?" "The aquaduct." "Oh right" -Monty Python- Live of Brian

Here is a creative way to solve a very serious drinking water problem:

EPA—Cleaning up Rocket Fuel not Meaningful

The Environmental Protection Agency, whose job it is to ensure safe drinking water has reached a draft conclusion that mandating a cleaning up toxic rocket fuel would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water-systems."

The decision, which has been reviewed by the Associated Press has not yet been made public, but has made its way into the media.

The "rocket fuel" ingredient the EPA is referring to is called perchlorate.

According to Wikipedia:

Perchlorate greatly impacts human health by interfering with iodide uptake into the thyroid gland. In adults, the thyroid gland helps regulate the metabolism by releasing hormones, while in children, the thyroid helps in proper development.

From the EPA website:

EPA has established an official reference dose for perchlorate which is consistent with the recommended reference dose included in the National Academy of Science's January 2005 report. A reference dose is a scientific estimate of a daily exposure level that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans. The reference dose will be used in EPA's ongoing efforts to address perchlorate in drinking water. It is important to note that the reference dose in EPA's draft assessment represents a preliminary estimate of a protective health level and is not a drinking water standard.

From the Associated Press

The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.

The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems."

The conclusion, which caps years of dispute over the issue, was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists who accused the EPA of caving to pressure from the Pentagon.