Flush again, I'm thirsty

Toilet to tap water is becomming real. It's the brave new world of water shortage. Brace yourself for more jolts like this.

San Diego is now using reclaimed wastewater (after treatment) in city water supplies. It took some time for people to get over the yuck factor, but the resistence has mostly subsided. Drought and rationing did a good job of letting people know why the idea was proposed.

And it's not really that new. Forever we've been drinking water from someone else's waste stream, we all live downstream from somebody. The new approach makes it a little more direct, but also a lot more carefully treated.

It won't be long before there's no such things as "waste" water.

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Don't wash your jeans

How far will you go for sustainability? Levi Strauss, the jeans maker, says real jeans afficianados don't wash their jeans so sustainability is easy.

In fact, not washing jeans is a key step in greening up Levi Strauss, since washing is a major water and energy factor in the life cycle of a pair of Levis jeans. No problem, since Levi Strauss's sustainability VP says:

...true jeans lovers buy a tight pair of unwashed jeans, wear them for a while, and very occasionally -- maybe once or twice a year -- get in the bathtub wearing the jeans, let the water soak into them, then hang them to dry. That way, they mold to your body. What's more, you save water, detergent, energy and your jeans last longer by avoiding the wear and tear of wash and dry cycles.

Now since washing is in the hands of jeans wearers, Levi has some work to do. Maybe they should look at Killer Jeans' ad (above right) for inspiration.

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guilt was never a part of it...

There's too much guilt in the non-profit world. Here's an exciting new charity that is turning heads with success in delivering clean water to poor people. Why? One reason seems to be the attitude of Scott Harrison, the founder of charity:water, a new group that helps deliver clean water to people who need it:

Guilt has never been part of it,” he said. “It’s excitement instead, presenting people with an opportunity — ‘you have an amazing chance to build a well!’ ”

It's an awesome story...build a well, save a child, build a movement...by turning off the faucet of guilt that is so popular among non-profits.

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Too many beavers

When I was a boy, there were few beavers around. This was true even in rural Oregon, the beaver state. Well now there are more beavers than you can shake a stick at.

Too many beavers, in fact, since they're undoing what people have done to tame nature and otherwise control water.

It's funny, we liked them for the fur, we love them as a symbol (see Oregon state flag at right, the only state flag with images on two sides, and look there's a lovely little beaver on the back!)

What'll we do with too many beavers? Start a bounty program to get rid of them? Or learn to live with them?

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Desalination in California

Salt is the enemy, at least if you want to use ocean water for drinking or irrigation. With the world running out of fresh water, and plenty of salty ocean water at hand, no wonder people want to do industrial-scale salt removal. It's easy to do, and the only obstacle has been the cost. Is that changing? Will we turn to the ocean for our fresh water supplies?

Here's the latest, the largest ever desalting plant in the US up for final approval in Southern California.

Desalination, desalinization, desalinisation, salt removal...whatever you call it, it may be an idea whose time has finally come.

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Pesticide cocktails are really bad

Here's how pesticide math works: 1 + 1 = more than 2.

Here's how pesticide laws and regulations work: 1 + 1 = 2.

You can expose fish to pesticides based on the laws and regulations, and they'll die when the fish do the real pesticide math.

Translated into geeky science language: a new study says the effects of pesticide mixtures on fish is worse than simply adding up the effects of individual pestices. This is a bummer, because the regulations that are supposed to protect fish assume that the effects are additive.

So the fish get hosed.

When will we get smarter about this stuff?

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