When You Pray, Move Your Feet

Georgia has a severe water crisis and the Governor's response? Pray.

Pray if it suits you, but don't lie to the rain gods. Environmental anti-public policy in Georgia reflects the larger anti-government Republican agenda. They're aided and abetted by Democrats who also never met a developer-highway lobbyist they didn't love. "When you pray, move your feet!" says the West African proverb. Running out of water must prompt us to act ... as we, of course, should have years ago.

Atlanta reportedly has 80 to 100 days between us and our primary source of drinking water essentially empty because we refuse to tell the truth -- fresh water is as limited as it is precious, especially in Atlanta. I admit it. I am frustrated by lots of talk and very little action. (Below, I've "primed the pump" on "what one person can do" and invite you to expand on these ideas.)

People keep asking me, "Why didn't we know about this?" Come on. Atlanta and Georgia have boomed with a "give-the-lobbies-what-they-want, devil take the hindmost" mentality. We have a too-little, too-late Republican Governor who, according to public records, has an embarrassing reliance on the Bush Administration we all know is demonstrably hostile to government in general and environmental responsibility in particular. Like many states, we've let wrong-wing Republicans dominate our state legislature. Local politicians have proven painfully willing to abandon inspired leadership for self-promoting P.R. campaigns. Laudable as efforts by non-governmental organizations like the new Georgia Water Coalition certainly are, we let this happen.

Droughts are nothing new in Georgia, but it appears they are getting worse and we're far from alone. Checked out Australia lately? Or the American West? We could have been facing reality: Atlanta depends on one modest little river - the Chattahoochee - for five million people, with a million more expected in the near future. Lots of talk about taking other people's water and our downstream neighbors certainly think that's precisely what we do. There ARE limits to growth, especially when that "growth" is overloaded with metastasizing highways and lawn-enshrouded mini-mansions.

I keep hearing, "But what can one person DO?" Get started!

Require those elected who serve us to put water-dependent life ahead of profits and cronies. And yes, hold their feet to the fire. The Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) is leading the way here, with a vision for the statewide water plan finally ready to recognize water is a public resource that must be managed. Read: Government. But in the current plan, as GWC notes, adequate funding is not assured, downstream neighbors are not protected, and we still lack aggressive measures requiring all users to use water efficiently -- all the time.

Isn't it obvious that big water-users must be reigned in? The GWC tells me that regulation (efficacy questioned) currently kicks in only when one uses 100,000 gallons or more per day from any source -- river, stream, pond, aquifer ... . What?! And when graduated pricing is used, the biggest users often actually pay less than little users. Get serious!

There are also a world of things we can do individually, starting with learning from each other. For instance:

FIRST, in my own life, I do NOT have to settle for Governor Sonny's absurdly cautious 10 percent solutions, temporary at that. I have set real goals to reduce my own water consumption by 50%. Or more! I think of saving water as a game and the season is always open. My water bill is my scorecard.

We're following the excellent example of our good friends The Richards. They are dramatically scaling back this holiday season. Even though traditionally Thanksgiving is their big-family-holiday of the year, they decided bringing 40 people to Atlanta is irresponsible during a drought. Hear-hear!

Retrofitting toilet/s and installing flow-reducing shower heads is great, but until then, why not "Go Free!" Just how little water is "enough" coming out of my shower head, anyway? And do I really have to shower every day?

Baths are so ... last-century! I make my "5-minute shower" a measure of TIMING -- not a license for water-down-the-drain. My showers are "sea-worthy" (fresh water is prized when scarce!): Get wet/Turn water OFF. Suds up. Turn water ON/Rinse. Turn water OFF. (All the way off - drips add up!)

I vividly remember California's drought in the '70s. People captured shower water (and, ok, bath water) in the tub and used it to flush toilets.

They also taught me to flush less often, to Think Mellow Yellow: "Yellow's mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."

I use my coffee-cup-coil-heater for small quantities of water instead of habitually running water 'til it gets hot. And when I do run the water to "hot", the "warm-up" water goes to my plants.

I use wash-cloths, with the water OFF. Good-bye open-faucet indulgences.

Yes, I now do turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth. Hardly rocket science.

I've figured out that the "harder" the water, the easier the soap comes off. It's easy to reduce the "softness" of water - use less (or no) softener.

I work to be water-savvy in the kitchen. Gee, I really can reuse (salt-free) water for plants and flush toilets with dishwater.

And, of course, I do everything I can to reduce my use of electricity - I'm told it takes water to produce electricity. The tip of that iceberg of opportunity: minimal blowdryer time -- towels work! - gadgets eliminated, turning off electronics/computers. And yes, we bought our LG refrigerator because for it's energy efficiency and our LG washer/dryer explicitly because it consumes so astonishingly little water, as well as electricity. The bonus is cleaner clothes!

OK, you get the picture. Now. What do or would you do to reduce the use and abuse of our precious, beautiful water? We have a whole lot to learn about "enough" when it comes to everything in Atlanta, in Georgia, and in the world at large. In Atlanta, our opportunities to "pray" for water may very well run out in 80 to100 days.

We've welcomed lots of environmentally savvy Guests to our Show and you can find them on our website http://www.PaulaGordon.com, To whet your appetite, among them are Rocky Mountain Institute's founder/chief scientist Amory Lovins; pioneering environmental educator David Orr at "America's #1 Coolest School" (Sierra Club's designation for Oberlin College); Interface, Inc.'s visionary industrialist/founder Ray C. Anderson; "biomimicry"-maven Janine Benyus; environmental superheroes Paul Hawken and David Suzuki, and many more.

Comments

[jmpurser]

I like an expression in the same vein: God can only do FOR you what he can do THROUGH you. It has colored my prayers ever since I first heard it.

Of course I'm a militant agnostic so don't go by me.