Water Wars: Part Two! + A Little Eco-DIY For Fun

If you know me, you know I have a thing for fish.  Pictures next to this dive shop mural were inevitable.  Lennon has once again bumped our Dallas aquarium trip back - so now instead of going on my birthday (two weeks, oh my goodness I'm old) - we're going over Valentine's weekend.  If he flakes, he's going to fry like fish in a pan!  Or maybe that's a bad simile to use in front of my gilled friend...

Our beautiful Sunday morphed into a chilly Monday.  But Sunday was prime for a puppy walk and bike ride.  I was dying of thirst the whole day.  Hm, I wonder why after Saturday night's escapades on Sixth Street?

Shirt Dress: Si Style
Leggings: Charlotte Rouse
Shoes: Converse All Star
Fishy Mural: I'm 98% certain the name of this place is Royal Scuba

Speaking of fish, thirst, water... I read an interesting blurb in Vegetarian Times about a town in Australia that has voted to ban all sales of bottled water.

One of the major concerns of the residents of Bundanoon, Australia, was that the water company would fill their city with trucks and other evidence of excavation, suck up all the water, drive it north to Sydney, bottle it there in a large plant, then drive it all the way back to sell it to them.

I call this post "Water Wars Part Two" because I mentioned the controversies of polluted ground water in the US, as well as stolen water for bottling and soft drinks in rural India a few months ago.  It made me go out and buy a Brita tap filter, which promptly blew off the sink nozzle when water pressure was applied.  Back to Target it went.  Now I just toughen up by drinking my water straight from tap to Eco-Canteen, (super cheap at Walgreens!).

The New York Times also wrote about Bundanoon's 99% unanimous decision to ban bottled water, but quoted "industry groups" saying (whining?) "It is unfair to single out bottled water when many other consumer goods — like disposable diapers and imported produce, cheese and wine — have an equal or greater impact on the environment."

Here is my answer to that:

• Disposable diapers?  Try reusable, sewable nappies from LuckySprog.com.  Oh, and that adorable baby in the pink nappies?  That's my high school friend Adrienne's daughter, Charley.  Adrienne is living every American girl's dream: she studied abroard in the UK, married a handsome red head with an accent, and now lives overseas with hubby and baby.  (At least that was my dream!)  And she DIY's her own Earth-saving nappies and sells them all over the world.  Pretty cool.  She also gave me the first beer I ever had.  That gives her prominence in my catalog of life changing events.
  
• Imported produce and cheese?  Say hello to your local CSA.  I hear rave things about Johnson's Backyard Garden.  I'm joining as soon as I have the extra bucks saved up to pay for the four weeks in advance ($32/week).
  
• Wine?  Make your own damn wine!  And yes that is the (switch wine with beer) motto of Austin Home Brew supply.  Lennon's beer is fermenting in our closet right now.  Expect photos soon.
• And while we're on the subject of eco-friendly, I want these Skoy cloths, a less hokey ShamWow which would solve our roommate dilemma of who's turn it is to buy the paper towels next.

Back to the water, I understand that not every city has drinkable tap water, (after all, not every geographic location can be Arkansas...), but the city of Bundanoon plans to put in filtered fountains throughout the city that people can fill up giant, reusable jugs with.  This is not an odd proposal to me, as I used to visit Hot Springs, Arkansas frequently and people were always filling up jugs at the natural spring fountains all along the main drag.


I suppose my number one motivation for being concerned about the planet's well being is selfish, in that I want to have kids, raise them, and then see my grand kids all grow up to enjoy fireflies in summer (hard to even find one in Little Rock now, so depressing), golden leaves in autumn, and not worry about the coastlines collapsing into the sea.  I don't like fish that much.

It's also important to note how cool it is that a small town stood up for something they believed in, gained national attention, and kept a corporation from mowing over their streets and water supply, (now if only we could help India have that same voice when talking to the Coca-Cola company). 

We are all a bit riled up in this apartment about the Supreme Court decision to take away spending limits on corporations, and Lennon has already brain stormed ways to make a case and sue the Supreme Court on several occasions for infringing on the individual rights of actual humans over corporate entities.  While this is all talk, (mostly), change and recognition all has to start somewhere - look at Bundanoon.