Water, water everywhere – but for how long? The Earth consists mostly of water – consider the many huge oceans and seas, the rivers, streams, glaciers, dams and lakes. These water sources are all part of something Greater – the miraculous water cycle!
Choosing a Water Theme for a Biodiversity Party is therefore a great idea! We can imagine that there is indeed water, water, everywhere, but this is a myth. The Earth has finite water resources. We need to save water! Climate change means change for humans too. It means adaptation is key to saving our Earth.
Save Water!
Leeya Van Reenen is an Earth Kid who wants to address the issue of general water use and water saving. Her Biodiversity Party – to celebrate Earth Month (April), Biodiversity Month (May)and Environment Month (June) – is a water party with the loud and proud message: Please do NOT waste water and only use it if it’s necessary!
Leeya describes her ideal Biodiversity Party, with a water theme: “We will walk around in the river and we will play a game I like to call ‘Touched or Not’. This is when one person has a blindfold on and the others touch that person. But here is the tricky part: the person blindfolded can touch you too and if you get touched, you have to do a dare from the IT person,” explains Leeya with a glint in her eye.
Talking about water, the UN World Water Development Report was released in March this year and this is what it had to say:
Water use has increased sixfold over the past century and is rising by about 1% a year. However, it is estimated that climate change, along with the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events – storms, floods and droughts, will aggravate the situation in countries already currently experiencing ‘water stress’ and generate similar problems in areas that have not been severely affected.
Celebrate Pure Drinking Water Today
This should make every one of us sit up and think: “What can I do about water in MY area?” Leeya said that she will not have a speaker at her party but she chooses live entertainment. She wants her friends to celebrate the mere existence of water, right here, right now.
Leeya knows that so many of us come from privileged backgrounds and homes: we turn on a tap and water comes out. We have a hot shower whenever we feel like it. We drink water when we are thirsty. BUT how many people in the world do NOT have access to clean drinking water? Millions and millions. These people may share one tap to a street, or they have to walk for kilometers to find water in a stream to take home. They will then have to boil the water before consuming it. Many people live in such dry regions that they do not have rain for months.
Did you know that 1 in 9 people still have no access to clean water worldwide? Lack of water is a daily and crippling reality. Without water, people cannot grow food, they cannot build houses, they cannot build strong and healthy immune systems, they cannot go to school and they cannot keep working. So many people are running out of hope in more than half of the developing world’s primary schools which have NO access to water and sanitation!
A Watery Party with a Waterfall Cake
Leeya is celebrating the fact that she has water in her taps and a stream running through her garden! She is excited about her Biodiversity Party:
“I am having a river cake! My cake will be a 4-layered cake that will look as if water is dripping down its sides. But it will actually be ice cream! We will also have cookies for rocks. There will be a lake made out of fondant that will run down this cake. My cake will be a vanilla cake – and then there will also be a chocolate one, a lemon one and a colorful one – made with blueberry, strawberry and mint.”
Have YOU thought about water today? Are you saving water and making sure that there is still some for tomorrow?
Take a look at these water saving tips: