Last week we celebrated World Water Day. So, this past weekend, Nate and I watched the 1995 film Waterworld with Kevin Costner and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Have you seen it?
The whole time I was glued to the TV and taken by how the PG-13 movie captured some of my biggest fears for Earth's future. (Learn more about eco-anxiety here.)
If you haven't seen it, humanity does something that causes the icecaps to melt and inundate all habitable land and freshwater becomes scarce. As you can imagine, chaos ensues. I won't say anything else other than, this film gets R-E-A-L.
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| You can see the progressive loss of land and then the Earth completely inundated, setting the scene for the Waterworld movie. |
As a water resources professional in my career, the value of water, especially freshwater, is something I live every day. Water is life. So today we honor the one thing that makes Earth unique in our universe, habitable to life, and astoundingly beautiful from space.
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| Measuring flow on St. Vrain Creek. |
So many people take water for granted. Specifically, freshwater is the cornerstone of our existence. It quenches our thirst, nurtures our crops, and sustains every living being on Earth. Picture a world devoid of clean water – a desolate landscape where parched throats cry out in desperation and fertile fields wither away. The importance of freshwater cannot be overstated; it is the essence of life itself.
Unfortunately, we are at a pivotal point in our relationship with water. Climate change is impacting its patterns. We don't have enough water when we need it, and too much water when it does come. Dry places are becoming drier and flash floods are becoming more frequent world-wide. It is only a matter of time before water separates the "haves" from the "have nots."
This is why it's crucial that we make decisions in favor of our planet. As stewards of this planet, it is our solemn duty to safeguard our water resources for generations to come. Through collective action and unwavering commitment, we can mitigate the impacts of climate change, preserve freshwater sources, and combat pollution. By advocating for sustainable practices and embracing conservation efforts, we can ensure a brighter future for all life forms that call Earth home.
This is especially true in an industry that often touts its commitment to nature, but often falls short of conserving it - art. As art lovers, let us come together to improve our practices. Here are some ways as art lovers, we can reduce our impact on waterways:
- Don't pour paints down the sink. It gums up your pipes, water treatment plants, and often ends up in our streams and oceans. Use an evaporation bucket instead, like described here.
- Use Forest Stewardship Council papers and canvasses that use paper harvested from sustainably managed forests. When forests are harvested unsustainably, the landscape is often left barren and without earth-stabilizing vegetation. When it rains, that rain drives much of the disturbed soils into our waterways, decimating stream biodiversity.
- Use sustainable packaging. Unsustainable packaging like single-use plastics often used to package and ship art end up in our landfills and oceans, polluting our water resources and habitats.
- If you're buying art, make sure it's sustainably made.
On this World Water Day, let us honor water - our source of life. Together, let us pledge to cherish and protect this invaluable resource, for in its embrace lies the promise of a flourishing planet for all.
Happy World Water Day to you.
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