A Catalogue Of Sustainable Achievements
Here’s a nice big ol’ PDF for anyone who’d like to download it. This poster, and everything else on SuperForest is all licensed under creative commons, so feel free to take it and make it yours. If you use SuperForest content, link to us and tell your friends that we’re awesome. Then we cool. :)
(Based on an idea by SuperForester Jackie.)
Heyo! If you like this, please please please send it around to all of your friends. Copy it, paste it, print it out for yourself. Do your own version! Steal it.
Go ahead. Take it! It’s yours. I did it specifically for YOU.
Love
Jackson
Good Morning SuperForesters,
It goes without say that GOOD’s transparency series is absolutely amazing (it’s absolutely amazing). And just this morning, I saw one that was no exception. The topic was water conservation, and the simple little video highlights examples of the changes we can make in our daily lives in order to save 1,213 gallons of water per day. Per day!!!!
(via SuperForester Andrew)
Happy Friday SuperForest!
Me, I love a good educational rap song (have you heard SuperForester Jackson’s Dolphins Are Awesome?! check it – Dolphins Are Awesome!)
It’s a rich, varied and often hilarious musical sub-genre (I promise to share more soon), and I came across this gem. Tom McFadden is an instructor in human biology at Stanford who is responsible for some great comeducational science raps (check out “Regulatin Genes“). Tom helped to teach Ms. Kauer’s 5th grade class at East Palo Alto Charter School, CA a series of lessons on the science and local issues of water – culminating in this awesomeness: a song written and performed by a group of the kids, with some help from Tom. Listen, learn, love:
Tom McFadden, Ms Kauer’s Class – You Rock!
Love
P
Hello, SuperForest!
Yesterday I finally sat down to watch FLOW: For Love of Water, a film SuperForester Jordan brought to our attention almost a year ago. This captivating documentary takes the global water shortage issue and approaches it from two angles. First, as described by the website, the film “builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.” And second, the film introduces us to several people and groups that are currently working to improve water conditions across the globe.
It’s an absolute gem of a film and although some might consider it to be paralyzing in a sense, I found the film had the opposite effect on me. Yes, a lot of the stories shared were sad. Yes, the actions that were described of the major corporations in control of much of today’s water were horrid and could easily cause anger. And yes, the film could be considered to be frightening at times when reflecting on the fact that without any change, the human race could face a future without any water. But out of this knowledge I found a great deal of hope and opportunity. I found both inspiration and motivation to do everything within my power to make a change.
I highly encourage you to do two things:
1.) As it often is the case in getting involved with any issue, the first step is always to get informed. And you can start by….
Watching FLOW on YouTube!!!
Now that I think of it, I’m not sure if the fact that it is on YouTube is entirely legal, but when looking up the trailer, I found that several users uploaded the film online in several parts. Who knows if this will last, so take advantage of it while you can. You can also try your luck with TV scheduling and watch it on the Sundance channel like I did. Orrrr you can be really cool and support this film by purchasing the DVD here.
2.) Second, if you haven’t done so already, visit the FLOW website. You’ll not only find a wealth of information, but an entire list of sources that will help you get involved in whatever way you’d prefer.
Water conservancy is an issue that runs deep within the veins of SuperForest. It’s an issue we’ve focused on several times in the past, and will continue to focus on in the future. That being so, I hope this film inspires you wonderful SuperForesters as much as it inspired me.
Yours,
Carla
Here at SuperForest we’ve been talking a lot recently about Water Conservation. And we have highlighted several practical, easy steps to help reduce your daily waste-water ouput: such as showering with a bucket and then using that bucket to water your plants. Or even peeing in the shower!
We’ve all heard the term “if it’s yellow, let it mellow.” We’ve probably all at some point gotten into fights with mothers or significant others over the disgusting radioactive quality of our unflushed toilets. And yet we all know how incredibly wasteful a toilet flush is. As Jackson just recently posted, a household that avoids one flush a day, can save up to 4,380 litres of water annually. And to think, there are millions of people who don’t get even half that amount of clean water to use for all their drinking, washing, cleaning, flushing needs.
That said, I’ve devised an incredibly simple alternative to avoid toilets, arguments and water-waste all together… Tree Pee!
Kids do it. Dogs do it. Shamelessly drunk people do it. Why not us? Think about it, we are designed with a natural watering system built in. And it is a crime that we waste all that nutrient rich liquid by flushing it away with even more gallons of clean, potable water.
So I suggest, from now on, every time you feel the urge to drain the dragon, avoid the porcelain and aim for the great outdoors. Hopefully you have a backyard. If not, maybe a nearby park. Or your neighbor’s prize rhodendrum bush. Trust me, the plants will thank you. Your dragon will thank you (everyone knows dragons love trees). Even the birds will sing your praises.
It’s a no brainer. A win-win-win. You avoid flushing, you get a breath of fresh air and a spontaneous commune with nature. You water the thirsty plants. You may even (if you’re lucky) feel the cool refreshing high-five of the breeze thanking you for your good deed.
And ladies, don’t think I’m preaching here solely to the boy’s choir. Trees have big roots with nice handholds that make it easy, and quite pleasant to squat down between. Plus you get an incredible thigh and upper quad workout! The girls at the gym will be outrageously jealous.
So, next time you find yourself rushing to the bathroom, fire hose at the ready, think about if maybe there is a real fire you could put out. Or a patch of dirt in desperate need of nourishment and grass. Multitask. Use your pee for good. That is all I ask.
In summation: Toilets are for number 2. Trees are for number 1.
Morning Lovelies,
I just got an email from SuperForester Patricia who sends along this charming video that implores all of us to start peeing in the shower to save flushes:
Sayeth Patricia:
“Morning SuperForest!
Not even joking:) I just heard about this on the radio and had to locate the vid (it’s like a condensed version of Jackson’s experiment of bucket-shower-flushing;).I don’t know what the official SF policy is on peeing in the shower, but I hope you love this like I do.
Sadly I don’t speak Portuguese, but I love the animation and cheery music regardless, much more so for the fact that this is an advert being shown on Brazilian TV encouraging peeps to pee in the shower thus saving water on flushing – the ad by Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica says if a household avoids one flush a day, it can save up to 4,380 litres of water annually (cut out the bucket man?;)”
Amazing Patricia! Thank you very much.
We SuperForesters are quite obsessed with water conservation, and if peeing in the shower helps save drinking water, then that’s what we’ll do.
Here’s a SuperForest post about toilet hacking to save water.
And another one about the Clivus Multrum, a toilet system that uses no water.
And SuperForester Spoon joined in the fun and hacked his toilet as well.
We love water! We’ll do whatever it takes.
Who’s with us?!
Arrrrrrrr!
Lol.
-Jackson
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about water conservation. I don’t know what it is, but everywhere I look I seem to see copious amounts of water slipping silently away. Whether it’s that incessant, Chinese-water-torture drip of my leaky faucet. Or that broken lawn sprinkler shooting it’s Old Faithful geyser arc into the uncaring sky as I jog by. Or it’s my mom running the sink 2 agonizing, wasteful minutes while the water heats up enough to rinse the dishes enough to put them into the dishwasher on high setting.
And the worst part is, nobody else seems to notice. It’s like I have some strange hypersensitivity to water being wasted. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. If I were a superhero, I’d be Aqueous-Boy, surging to the rescue whenever a water main breaks or an evil golf course overwaters it’s perfectly manicured Kentucky-blue grass. But alas, such superpowers elude me.
And so I have to turn back to the little things I can do to make a difference. Like replace the washer in my leaky faucet. Or lecture my mom for the umpteenth time on the merits of mindfulness. Or call the water department when I spot a spouting sprinkler, instead of just jogging past… or staring like the hundred other gawkers and commenting, “god, what a waste of water!” (don’t just stand there people, do something!).
There is a whole wealth of useful information online, with very easy steps to help you reduce your daily water outflow. If you don’t believe me, check out Eartheasy’s 25 water tips. Or our very own, SuperForester Jackson’s Toilet hack post.
But to be honest, water conservation usually comes upon us in short-lived flashes of guilt, when we realize that perhaps we left the hose running too long…or when we see news footage of dehydrated children in East Africa. The truth is, it’s easy to take water for granted. It’s always on tap, it’s plentiful, it requires no effort. In order to stay permanently cognizant of the water we use, we need to completely reprogram our brains. Here’s what I suggest…
Every time time you turn on the faucet to drink water, or wash the dishes or take a 15 minute shower… imagine that you had to pump that water yourself. Envision in your mind, a long, dry walk to a deep, dark well. The parched ground burns your feet. Your skin cracks and blisters as you crank the pump up an down. The water comes slow and in a trickle. You fill your heavy jugs, and then have to lug them nearly a mile back to your house… where the dishes await washing and your wife demands her nightly bath. Think of all the water you will use tonight alone. How many trips back and forth to that well will be required?
Use your imagination a little. Retrain your brain to recognize how precious each drop is. It’s a very small thing to do, and you can do it entirely in your head in a single second. But I promise you, every time you turn on the faucet you will feel the weight of those jugs biting into your shoulder. And you will never unconsciously let that water go again as you brush your teeth or shave your legs.
Every single drop is precious. Respect the flow. Treat your water with love.
Word from our sources at HIFF (the Hawaii International Film Festival) is that we must all go see FLOW — a new documentary about the importance of protecting our global water supply.
SuperForest is a positivity blog.
SuperForesters are all over planet Earth, all united in exploring how to redefine "environmentalism" and "sustainability" to encompass every aspect of our lives. Everything you find on this website has been personally created to uplift and inspire you.
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