Girls selling water and corn by the roadside in Northern Malawi/Leila Darabi
Summertime. It’s hot and more conscious of my need for water. I suspect I’m not alone in this heightened awareness. For one thing, I’ve been seeig more water stories lately. For staters, some group is building swimming pools out of dumpsters in Brooklyn. Amazing.
Also, I read this morning that a town in Australia has plans to become the first municipality to ban plastic water bottles. They’re pissed about a big water company coming in to drain their resevoir and are fighting back with this piece of legislation.
And in London, I read in this article found via Elizabeth Royte’s blog, the council of Hackney has bought enough bottled water from the fairtrade company Thirsty Planet—which donates a portion of sales to water access in Southern Africa—to build a water pump in Malawi. As Royte points out, charity bottled water is a bit deceptive. The council of Hackney could always have served tap water at meetings and sent money not spent on bottled water directly to Malawi. Agreed.
Tags: Australia, elizabeth royte, London, malawi, Thirsty Planet, Water
