Water, the next oil

What could be more important to the continuance of life than water. Increasing news articles, mostly negative about the polluting, wasting, or drying up of water resources has brought this issue into the forefront as it should be. This beautiful book, Blue Planet Run, practically jumped off the shelf at me. Its oversize dimensions, superb photographs and graphics tell the worlds water situation with force and clarity as well as an organization that is doing something about it to boot. Here are a few facts from their website:

1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, roughly one-sixth of the world's population.

2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffereing from water related illnesses.

In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II.

An estimated 25% of people from cities in developing countries purchase their water from vendors at a significantly higher price than piped water. In some cases, at the cost of more than a quarter of their household incomes. read more>>