Porcelain Springs Bottled Water

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Websites to Look Into

For more information about water related diseases:
http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/

For more information about the contaminants in water:
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/drinkingwater/pages/chemicalcontaminants.aspx

For information about the world-wide water crisis:
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/

What Can a Bystander Do?

          There are lots of ways you can help keep your water safe if you are one of those people who doesn't have time to go do a beach clean up, an activist meeting, or volunteer with a water cleaning facility. Just by reexamining the products you use during your daily routine is enough to make a difference.

         Did you know that there are many cosmetics (like shampoo, makeup, and hand soap) that contain toxins that are known to cause deadly diseases? These toxins get washed down the drain without a second thought and then reappear in our households later, due to the fact that not all of these are treatable in water.

         3.4 million people die each year from water related diseases, so by reading and doing some research on those big words on the back of your lipstick, we can decrease the amount of toxic material in our water system.

         We are told all the time not to wash or flush hygiene or protective products down the drain yet we do it anyway and allow these chemicals to reenter the water cycle.

         Reducing the use of these products and replacing them with environmentally friendly products that work just as well can also reduce the toxins getting into our bodies, not just through the water we are exposed to, but through exposure to the products.

Water Usage in the Average Household

An average family of four in the United States uses about 400 gallons of water per day, unlike families in Africa that will average only 5 gallons per day. 

       

 In the average American household:

Action	Gallons Used
One flush of a high-flush toilet	3.5-7
One flush of a low-flush toilet	1.6
Standard shower for 1 minute	2.5

One way that you can help save water in your own bathroom is by replacing your toilet and shower-head with ones that are labeled as WaterSense. A WaterSense labeled shower will save 2,900 gallons of water in a year. A WaterSense toilet will use only 1.28 gallons of water per flush and help the family use 20% to 60% less water. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/indoor.html

Organizations to Look Into

There are many organizations around the world that help keep our oceans clean. Some of these are based in the Santa Monica Bay area and dedicated to helping keep our bay clean. They include:

·      Heal the Bay is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to keeping Southern California coastal waters clean and safe. They helped to ban carryout plastic bags, and they are currently dealing with urban runoff, which carries bacteria, chemicals, and trash into the ocean everyday. www.healthebay.org

·      Team Marine is a club at Santa Monica High School that helps keep the beaches clean from pollution. It is headed by Ben Kay and consists of students at Samohi who want to help reduce pollution in the ocean. www.teammarine.org

·      The Surfrider Foundation is an organization that helps protect oceans, waves, and beaches. They are people who love the beach and don't want to see it get destroyed. They started an organization and are now doing the same thing in about 18 countries around the world. www.surfrider.org