It
is quite surprising that the United States in ONLY NOW waking up to the fact
that weekend gardeners especially in Spring when they begin to clean up and get
ready for the new season of flowering, and grass cutting, that they are using
10 times the pesticides and harmful chemicals on their yards, per sq ft than
farmers use, primarily due to the smaller allotments.
As
the link below in the New York Times attests, it is time to realize the huge
negative effects on health by this practice, and learn from this and take steps
to MINIMIZE their use, as it has long term harmful effects on the water supply
and public health.
Thankfully
we have not got to this state yet as far as homeowners are concerned, but as
farmers we of course have a problem in our practices which we find hard to
change. Nevertheless this issue of Chemical Contamination of the Ground water
is a Universal Problem, and I will not be surprised if there are international
conventions covering the use of such, before long.
The
main thing is Education (repeat the word as much as you want!) as until our
citizens, most especially the young who are easier to convince and begin a life
time of good practice, realize their duty to their fellow man in preserving
their country for future generations, we will have an increasing problem.
Water
therefore needs a special place in our psyche. We must value it, store it
preserve, protect it from harmful toxins, and do whatever we can to use it
wisely in both home and agricultural practices in our daily lives.
Let
us begin my mandating water conservation methods and rainwater harvesting as
part of building codes and requirements for new constructions. This has to be
tied in with Dengue prevention methods too, to ensure we do not compromise that
effort by careless storage methods for water. If we view water as precious,
especially as many of our citizens have been in the Middle East where they can
see its importance, and its value, we will then take steps to include these
practices without delay. It is better to start now, so when the problem really
begins to bite, our preparedness will save us from misery!
2 comments:
i was with you until the last paragraph. i don't think in sri lanka's case that water conservation is as important as water management. some areas of the island receive ample supplies of rainfall and the inhabitants of the area shouldn't have to be miserly with it as it is an abundant resource. other areas are actually parched and need to conserve their water.
the bigger point is slowing down water contamination, and the idea of giving value to water (and air and earth would be good also) is very important. we must not take them for granted, and a concerted campaign must be undertaken to educate people to protect these resources. also concrete guidelines must be created to guide citizens HOW to protect these resources, and the guidelines must be based on practicality and scientific analysis to be effective.
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