A Drop at a Time
TWU alumni team up for water sustainability.
Give Jered Love (’07) five minutes and he can convince you that we should all be thinking more about water.
“The United Nations recently named water sustainability the third most significant issue facing the world today,” he says, explaining that the surprising move underscored what many environmentalist have been saying for years — the world can all too easily run out of this life-giving resource.
He goes on. Canada, a country with 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater supply, uses more water than any other country besides the United States. The average Canadian uses 335 litres of water a day. According to Jered, the average individual in a developing country uses only 10.
Statistics like these are at the forefront of the awareness campaign Jered is coordinating alongside twu alumni Doug van Spronsen (’08) and Elyse Jacobson (’08). The three recently launched WaterDrop, an initiative aimed at educating the local community about what they believe to be an urgent need to use water in a sustainable way.
“We wanted to do something beyond just a career,” Jered explains. The group was looking for an important and timely cause, but also a good fit for their particular skills. After doing some research into environmental issues, they discovered that water shortage was a critical and often overlooked problem, and decided to start their own initiative surrounding sustainability.
The three speak knowledgeably about the looming global water crisis and water usage in our own backyard. “When we say 335 litres, most people say ‘There’s no way I use that much a day,’” Jered says. “But take into account that a five-minute shower uses 100 litres, running the dishwasher uses 60 litres, brushing your teeth with the tap on uses up to 20 litres – these types of activities add up.”
The goal of the WaterDrop team is to help people find easy ways to use less water, from raising awareness of when to turn off the tap, to encouraging the use of water-saving devices.
“The exciting thing about water sustainability is that it is so easy to do,” Jered states. “Buying a hybrid car may be out of your price range, but it costs nothing to turn off the tap while you brush your teeth.”
The group has been talking with volunteers and municipal government officials in Vancouver and Langley, planning awareness events, and strategizing ways to serve as consultants for institutions and companies that want to learn more about saving on water costs.
“We’re still in the beginning stages,” says Jered, “ but one of the great things has been realizing we have these amazing connections from being twu alumni, and using our different skills to help people do something simple, but good.”
To learn more about WaterDrop and water sustainability, check out: WaterDropblog.wordpress.com.
by Veronica Collins ('06)
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