Everyday helper: Water bottle
8. August 2024
Microplastic Analytics: EU plans are not enough
9. September 2024
Education and enlightenment in a non-fiction format: Rebellin des Wassers (Rebels of Water) to be published in October
Water is the topic of the moment. Scientific evidence shows that the processes of change are already significant. But scientific publications only reach scientists. Although media reports reach the general audience on a daily basis, they often leave us alone with many question marks. What to do with all of the alarming reports and stories about water? How can I protect myself? How can I help? These are precisely the questions that ‘Rebel of the Water’ addresses.
Many people take it for granted that freshwater flows from the tap at all times ...
If we look at the global north, when we open the tap, we assume that the water is clean and safe to drink. And if nothing is out of the ordinary happens, we don't question this. Unfortunately, however, we are dealing with a deceptive certainty. Among other things, the supposedly clean water contains microplastics, some of which are invisible to the naked eye, as well as a constantly changing cocktail of chemicals, some of which cannot yet be analysed. Our wastewater treatment plants are currently somewhat helpless in the face of these various hazardous substances. They are increasingly reaching their limits.
We are faced with two big threats: Water scarcity and pollution. But what can we do?
The real levers lie in reducing water consumption and preventing increasing water pollution. It's about conserving resources, a circular economy, and sustainable environmental protection. We can start at home. There are many possibilities, such as turning off the tap during showers and, above all, reducing household chemicals, i.e. considering which household cleaners, cosmetics, detergents, and garden fertilisers you use and whether there are less toxic alternatives. Medication should never be disposed of in the toilet and excessive car washing should be questioned. It also makes sense to support small charitable organisations, as these are much more likely to create added value than large organisations with a lot of costs for bureaucracy. Political pressure can also be generated by asking the right questions in the right places.
The political leverage and possibilities for accelerating impact
Rethinking - acting quickly with a long-term perspective is the name of the game. This also includes saying goodbye to traditional and outdated structures. As long as sustainability continues to be cultivated as a form of lifestyle market segment with numerous gimmicks, individual interests, a greed for profit, and more work is done with influencers than with real changemakers, it will not be possible to make progress fast enough.
If only 50 per cent of the innovation-poor water industry, 50 per cent of lobbyists and 50 per cent of professors conducting research in their ivory towers were to align their thoughts and actions with a higher goal instead of subordinating them to their own goals, then we would definitely be in a better position for our future planet.
The book provides answers and introduces people and actions. It gives a voice to individuals and groups of people who are not so easily satisfied, who ask unpleasant questions, who base their opinions on facts. This also includes those who put people and planet before profit, 24/7 - 365 days a year.
