I suppose some of the experiences I had will never leave me, some truths you cannot just sweep under a carpet. Now that I am back in Canada, the hardest part is trying to share those experiences I had in a way that help people understand these truths that I have seen: poverty, exploitation, corruption, dishonesty. I guess this feeling is shared by anyone in the field of sustainability. The question eludes me, while I find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The worst of all, for me, is falling on deaf ears to the ones that are supposed to be closest and most beloved to us: our family.

The conundrum, in which I have befallen, is where to cross the line when on one side of it you know you cannot tell another person what s/he is doing wrong and how to live their life, on the other hand you cannot stand idle watching while ignorance is harming innocent people (and the environment) thousands and millions of miles away.

What would you do if stuck in this situation, crying desperately to be heard, to share some tiny morsel of experience, that may trigger an awakening to just how damaging the majority of North Americans live.

I know, I’m being harsh, accusing, judging. I know, but what would you do? What would you do if you knew someone was doing something that unbenownst to them is harming others, often, many others.

“What makes you so much smarter than us” or “who are you to think you know whats best for us” are two phrases I hear in defense whenever I point out the pointless obessive purpose to an electronic pepper mill. I wish I had all the answers, no one has all the answers. I do have a lot of questions though, like these:

1. Why do we not question why places like Wal-mart can offer such ridiculously low prices? Can we not accept the reality that there are underpaid Chinese men and women (and often children) living and working in deplorable conditions to put together crappy products that are designed to be either broken, or unfashionable within 6 months. Not to mention the lives lost and sold into slavery over the extraction of cocoa for our chocolates, and diamonds for our dogs new burberry jacket?

2. Why we unquestioningly believe the FDA or our government would never approve any products that would be harmful to us, yet allow tobacco products in abundance, toxic chemicals to remain in shampoo, soaps, unrecyclable plastics to cover our produce, genetically modified fruits and vegetables that carry ridiculous “newest health wave trend setter” like pro-and pre-biotics (wtf?), animal meat that is so pumped with hormones (Bovine growth hormone), that our mother-to-be’s breast milk contains dioxin (read deadly manmade toxin, leads to cancer) and our children are hitting puberty earlier, and getting fatter and bulkier than anytime in recorded history.

3. Why we have to pay more for “healthy food”, since when did health become a choice? shouldn’t it be a given, like air or water?

4. Why do we allow companies to drill in our backyards, pollute our fresh water streams, and kill off communities and bio-diversity that has lived on the land for far longer than the English language has been around, just to turn around and sell us that which we used to get for free and in abundance: Water! Tap water vs bottled water has been proven (and again) to be a hoax, a self satisfying delusion that tastes oh so good with our pre-bionic, certified organic, high in calcium and omega-3, with 0 trans-fat and low cholestoral, diet, meals.

5. Why is it okay to bag our groceries in non-recyclable plastics produced from petrol, and drive SUVs in urban areas when we know that a large percentage of gasoline money goes to Saudi Arabia who uses a lot of that money to build madrassas all over the world, many of which  teach a fundamentalist form of Islam, which only leads to more terrorism. Oh yea, not to mention that oil and gas production is a major cause of global warming (automobile emissions alone contribute to 30% of CO2 released into the atmosphere in the United States alone), and not to mention destruction to natural habitats; but as long as there is demand, the oil companies have an excuse to continue making money.

6. Why do we believe we can obtain quality of life or social stature by owning material things? We keep ourselves in sub-urban bubbles, ignorant of the thought about where our products come from, and most important, where it goes once we are done? Why do our politicians refer to us as consumers and not citizens? Why do we consider quality time to include the family sitting around watching TV, not communicating, not sharing, not caring – and we wonder why teen depression and suicide rates are rising? We have less leisure time than any society in recorded history, and our general effectiveness at work has dropped dramatically, mainly to do with the over-stimulation of advertisements trying to get our attention around every corner!

7. Why do we believe that drugs will cure our illnesses and not cause others? Why so much attention on treatment and not more on prevention? With staggering rising cancer and asthma rates in industrial nations, isn’t there more that can be done to keep us healthy? Why do pharma companies experiment on “psychological abnormalities” in children by diagnosing them with A.D.D.? More importantly why would doctors buy into this practice that is causing more harm than good to our childrens early stages of development?

How are we supposed to trust anything in a world so wrought in corruption, and so blind to the public eye?

So tell me, am I wrong to ask these questions? Should I just accept things as they are? Wait till someone else figures out a solution? (or invent something that could kill us all).

Is it true I don’t have a right to tell you how to live your life, when the media and society do so much of a better job at it than I do? Maybe I don’t want to tell you how to live your life,  these questions should be more than enough to prompt you to ask your own questions and find out whatever it is you can do to jump off this crazy train speeding toward a cliff without breaks.

What’s that? You want solutions? I thought you didn’t want someone telling you how to live your life. Well I don’t have solutions for you, only experiences on how I try to live a little bit better. But you’ll have to contact me or comment to hear what I have to say, I’m sick of trying to get your attention. It’s your turn to do something now.

The building of dams around the world have displaced millions of people in the 20th century. Water ways, aquafers, and natural irrigation channels are being dried up or pumped into plastic bottles and sold to us. That is like someone coming into your home, stealing your most prized family heirloom, wrapping it in a nice package and selling it back to you at 10x the price you paid for it in the first place.

Is it so hard to keep water healthy and accessible to everyone? It seems that more and more politicians are failing to stand up for what should be their jobs – to protect the basic security of citizens! There certainly is nothing more basic than water.

I just finished watching “FLOW: For love of water“. A documentary featured directed by Irena Salina. The movie takes a traditional documentary look at the perspective of water, as a free right for citizens, as free as the air and sun is. It exposes the multinational corporations who are exploiting people and creating scenarios of poverty and dependence on their product (which is really your product only it was extracted from your backyard and bottled).

The film also explores local heros and success stories for local communities winning out against the exploitation of their water sources. Most notably the case in Bolivia in 2005 when water was given as a right back to the public.  Now I know thoughts of James Bond: Quantum of Solace come to mind here, but the truth is, companies with similar agendas do exist, and we all buy their products on a regular basis.

I liked how the movie is used as a platform to encourage the UN to adopt a new article, known as Article 31.

Article 31: Everyone has the right to clean and accessible water, adequate for the health and well-being of the individual and family, and no one shall be deprived of such access or quality of water due to individual economic circumstance.

This article would ensure governments comply with this basic human right. I would argue that the right should be extended to all living organisms, however this is an important first step. Follow this link if you want to sign the petition yourself.

In local news, a Calgary based NGO has been making waves across the world in their battle for affordable water and sanitation. CAWST (Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) was founded in 2001 and has since impacted the lives of millions of people across 53 countries through awareness and simple water filtration technology.

Why has such a basic human need become such a controversial and complex issue?

I’d like to see some initiative in setting up community rain water harvesting schemes, greywater capture and filtration services (preferably as a means of irrigation rather than drinking consumption).

Keep an eye out for their next event in your city.

Plastics were created in the early 20th century based on various chemical compounds, mostly petroleum based. In fact, Henry Ford rolled out a series of cars based on Soy plastics, he even invented a car fully manufactured from products grown in farms. So why did this trend end and oil based plastics take over? According to the documentary World War 2 is to blame, because they needed quick, cheap plastics for their soldiers, and from then on, the industry was set, and petroleum based plastics became our addiction.

Another interesting revelation made by this documentary is just how much consumers believe that this symbol of a triangle with a 1 (or up to 7) means that it is a recyclable plastic. This is a myth in practical terms. Yes a myth. Just because a product has this symbol does not guarantee that it will be recycled. Many plastics which have the potential to be recycled are not because there is no industry or technology good enough to recycle that product. One such example is clear plastics (not including plastic bottles) such as plastic egg cartons, plastic wrap, a lot of plastic casing/wrapping for the everyday products we buy.

Here is a short video about the struggle against plastic, just keep in mind, that this plastic ends up in landfills, and is not recycled into anything.

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The documentary goes far to inform the consumers that the battle against plastics and oil addiction is far from over.  More technology needs to be invested in and onnovation needs to increase and smarter designs standards for materials use in our products needs to be pushed.  At least it is getting some coverage now.