The sight of all that water just makes you feel good doesn't it? We need it to live, we are over 50% composed of the stuff, and most folks agree that we originated from it. This uncomplicated love affair isn't going to appear on the day time soaps any time soon. Trouble is, this is a coastal beach in Australia. All that water is undrinkable unless you carry around a desalination plant in your pocket!
In May of this year, I had the incredible opportunity to go to Australia for a conference and then hostel my way up the coast. In summary, it was fricking awesome! One of the things that really struck me though was the lack of fresh water there. I noted that every hostel I stayed in had a sign indicating that showers should be kept to a maximum of 5 minutes in length.* Here in Canada, the supply of fresh water really isn't something we tend to think about very often. For all intents and purposes, we have ALL the fresh water! Actually about a fifth of "all" of it, but we only constitute about 0.4% of the world's population. Lucky us!
What happens though when you have a lot of something? You don't
have to keep track of it, you don't
have to conserve it and you certainly don't
have to learn to use it efficiently. In the absence of external pressures there is just very little reason to do otherwise. Behaviour and expectations begin to change over time. Demand naturally begins to exceed the actual need and then if enough time passes the increased consumption is perceived as "needed." However at this point, from a purely functional perspective, the increased level of consumption IS needed. This is because the ability/expertise/knowledge of how to get by just as happily with less is lost through disuse. All of a sudden, a maximum 5-minute shower becomes a noteworthy challenge...
So what else does Canada have "all" of?
